LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Muncy landed on the injured list Friday for the second time this season, creating a platoon situation at third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 34-year-old infielder has a Grade 1 right oblique strain, which was revealed in an MRI on Thursday. He was a late scratch from a recent game with soreness in his right side.
Manager Dave Roberts said the injury isn’t season-ending, but Muncy will be out “absolutely longer than the 10 days.”
“It’s certainly a tough loss," Roberts said. “Guys just got to continue to perform to their abilities. It’s hard to kind of backfill Max, what he brings as far as the plate discipline, the slug, the on-base, all that stuff.”
Muncy is hitting .258 with 17 home runs and 64 RBIs in 89 games. He hit his 200th career homer on May 31. He came off the IL on Aug. 4 after having a knee injury.
The Dodgers claimed infielder Buddy Kennedy off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays and he was set to join the team later Friday. The 26-year-old had one hit in five games for the Blue Jays. He's been in the majors for parts of four seasons with Arizona, Detroit, Philadelphia and Toronto.
“Scrappy,” Roberts said about Kennedy, “but don't know a whole lot about him.”
Kennedy and Alex Freeland will split time at third in Muncy's absence. Freeland, who is batting .176, got the start Friday against the San Diego Padres.
The defending World Series champions have three relievers who are close to coming off the IL: Kirby Yates, Tanner Scott and Michael Kopech.
Yates will throw a bullpen session Saturday and then go on a rehab assignment. Scott tossed a bullpen Friday while Kopech is on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Position players Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández are just starting baseball activities, while Hyeseong Kim has yet to go out on a rehab assignment.
Rookie Roki Sasaki (right shoulder impingement) struggled in his first outing since May 9. The right-hander needed 41 pitches to record six outs Thursday for Oklahoma City. He gave up six hits, walked one and didn't have any strikeouts.
Sasaki's fastball velocity averaged 93.6 mph and topped out at 95.7 mph. That was lower than the 96-97 mph he averaged in a three-inning simulated game last Friday.
“It was a little surprising," Roberts said. “I wouldn’t say worried but the expectation is that he gets into the upper 90s. It was his first one and I want to talk to him personally to kind of get a little bit more background on that.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy (13) can't field a ball hit by Toronto Blue Jays Davis Schneider during the ninth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Wally Skalij)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Max Muncy walks off the field after the ninth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.
Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from about 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.
“It has been a historic and productive two days,” Carney said, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park. “We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned.”
Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.
Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.
“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China's top leader said.
Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”
He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.
Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”
A Canadian business owner in China called Carney's visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.
“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”
Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.
China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China's imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.
China is hoping Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States. The U.S. president has suggested Canada could become America's 51st state.
Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.
Associated Press business writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, arrives to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
