Sports
How a 'chiropractic adjustment' finally helped Max Muncy return to the Dodgers
A few days before Max Muncy strained his oblique in May, the Dodgers infielder noticed a bruise on his chest.
At first, he didn’t pay it much mind.
“You look in the mirror and you’re like, ‘Oh I’ve got some weird bruises there. Maybe I took a weird hop on a ground ball in practice or something,’” Muncy recalled recently. “You really don’t even think about it.”
As it turned out, the contusion actually was an early clue in what became a three-month odyssey for Muncy, who languished on the injured list for most of the summer with perhaps the most confounding ailment of any Dodger this season.
When Muncy went on the IL on May 17, the Dodgers expected him to return in a matter of days.
“I remember when it first happened,” manager Dave Roberts said, “we were even contemplating not even making it an IL.”
But as days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, Muncy’s discomfort never improved. His swing never felt right. And as his absence dragged on, he and the Dodgers medical staff started looking for other reasons the 33-year-old’s recovery was taking so long.
“I’d have a good day, and then I’d wake up and it’d feel like Day 1 of the injury,” Muncy said. “It was a whole process to get back to where I felt [OK] to even start to swing.”
Eventually, doctors discovered the root of Muncy’s issue: One of his bottom ribs was “out of place,” he said. And up until last month, it was starting to seem like it might cost the slugger the rest of his season.
“It was pretty severe,” Muncy said. “It didn’t feel like we were ever going to clear that hurdle.”
Now, however, all that is in the past. After a “chiropractic adjustment,” as Roberts termed it, late last month, Muncy’s rib finally was back into the correct spot. His lingering pain rapidly began to dissipate.
It culminated with his long-awaited activation this week, when he gave the Dodgers the kind of jolt they feared they’d be without for the stretch run: two home runs, two doubles and six RBIs in a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners.
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy celebrates after hitting a home run against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Three months of uncertainty and despair, suddenly replaced by three electric days at the plate.
“I’d definitely say it’s unexpected,” Muncy said with a chuckle. “But it felt good. Just trying to keep things simple, and got some good results out there.”
The Dodgers’ new hope: that the saga proves to be a serendipitous turning point in their season, one of the rare injury subplots that might lead to a happy ending for both him and the team.
“To get back, hit the ground running, understand every play, every at-bat is important, and for him to pick us up … we’ve needed every bit of it,” Roberts said. “It’s just really good to have him.”
It didn’t take long for Muncy and the team to realize something was amiss when he was on the IL.
While scans showed he had an unusually bothersome oblique injury — he said in June it was affecting his entire core, rather one specific area — the stop-and-start nature of his recovery raised suspicions that something else was afflicting him.
While Muncy could take ground balls and complete other basic infield drills, any attempt to resume swinging resulted in one setback after another.
“I’d have two, three really good days of swinging, ball would be coming off hot, no pain in the swing at all, bat speed would be great, and then I’d wake up on the third or fourth day and it’d feel like Day 1 of the injury,” Muncy said. “We’d start back over and go back to the drawing board, see what was going on, go get more scans. That process obviously happened three or four times.”
Early in that process, Muncy thought back to that bruise he had before he got hurt. And as his absence dragged on, the medical staff turned its attention to his rib cage, realizing that might be causing the delays in his recovery.
“My best guess is maybe the week leading up to when I got hurt, I dove for a ball or something and landed on it wrong, and we just didn’t know it at the time,” Muncy said. “We thought that maybe it was hurt before that day even happened.”
That led Muncy to begin making routine trips to a chiropractor, who made several attempts to get Muncy’s displaced rib back in the right position.
“It just wasn’t ever getting set properly,” Muncy said. “Each time I tried to come back, I felt like I was locked and couldn’t move properly.”
But then another trip to the chiropractor in late July resulted in a long-awaited breakthrough, with Muncy immediately feeling relief in the area that had bothered him for so long. When asked how his chiropractor did it, Muncy laughed.
“I’d re-show you, but I can’t actually physically get my body in that position,” he said. “It kind of felt like they almost broke my rib, but they didn’t. But it almost felt like that’s what happened.”
Max Muncy celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run against the Mariners on Tuesday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The adjustment, coupled with a pain-relieving injection the following day, allowed Muncy to finally turn a corner. This time there were no setbacks or aggravations. He quickly progressed from swings in the cage, to live at-bats, to a weeklong rehab assignment with triple-A Oklahoma City. Then his monster week against a talented Mariners pitching staff.
“It felt like I was never even hurt,” Muncy said. “That’s why this whole process has been pretty fast once we got that going.”
The challenge will be carrying it on over the final five weeks of the season, with Muncy resuming his role as the Dodgers’ everyday third baseman while batting seventh in a suddenly deep batting order.
During his time on the IL, Muncy said he tried to maintain certain “cues” in his swing mechanics, mimicking his hand placement and foot position while at home watching the Dodgers. But his swing isn’t exactly the same as it was early in the season, when the ninth-year veteran flashed early improvements following disappointing 2022 and 2023 seasons.
“When I come back, it’s just second-nature to be thinking about that stuff,” Muncy said. “But at the same time you have to get your swing back. So it’s a little bit of both.”
If this week was any indication, he’s close to finding that balance. He homered Monday night on a hanging changeup over the plate, then went deep again Tuesday on a 95-mph fastball well above the strike zone.
In Roberts’ eyes, however, Muncy’s biggest contribution might have been a bases-loaded, three-run double Wednesday — on a first-pitch slider up in the zone — that put the Dodgers’ 8-4 win out of reach.
As the manager noted, the knock allowed the team to stay away from key relievers like Michael Kopech in the later innings.
“That,” Roberts said, “has an exponential effect on our ballclub.”
Of course, the Dodgers would have preferred to get such contributions from Muncy all season. His extended absence contributed to a revolving door of replacements at third base, and the team’s seasonlong struggles to balance the lineup.
Getting him back, however, already is serving as a nice consolation.
“It was always in the back of my head … that, ‘Oh, what if this happens again?’” Muncy said. “But we’re definitely in the clear on that now. It’s a blessing to be back out here.”
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Earlier this month, the Pittsburgh Steelers entered a head coaching search for just the third time since hiring Chuck Noll in 1969.
On Jan. 13, Mike Tomlin announced he would step down after 19 seasons as the franchise’s head coach.
During the search for their next head coach, the Steelers interviewed a number of candidates, many of them young assistants in the vein of Noll, Mike Tomlin and Bill Cowher, all of whom arrived in Pittsburgh as relative unknowns and left with Super Bowl rings and Hall of Fame-worthy resumes.
During an introductory press conference with the Steelers that got emotional at times, McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native, beamed with pride about his third head coaching opportunity.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy at a news conference announcing him as the new Pittsburgh Steelers head coach at PNC Champions Club at Acrisure Stadium Jan. 27, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images)
“I thought I’d at least be able to get started,” the new Steelers head coach said, trying unsuccessfully to choke back his emotions while looking out at members of the McCarthy family inside Acrisure Stadium.
McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers spent several years together when both were part of the Green Bay Packers. McCarthy coached the Packers to a 125-77-2 record from 2006-18. Rodgers left the Packers after the 2022 season. He spent two seasons with the New York Jets before signing a one-year deal with the Steelers last offseason.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy during the first half against the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium Jan. 5, 2025. (Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images)
While Rodgers had a relatively productive first season with the Steelers, the 42-year-old quarterback is undoubtedly much closer to the sunset of his storied career than the onset. It is unclear whether Rodgers will return to the Steelers in 2026, pursue an opportunity with another team or simply step away from the game.
The possibility of a reunion between Rodgers and McCarthy was brought up during Tuesday’s news conference. McCarthy expressed optimism about potentially getting another shot at coaching Rodgers.
“Definitely, I don’t see why you wouldn’t,” McCarthy replied to reporters’ questions about possibly working with the four-time MVP.
TOM BRADY TALKS AARON RODGERS’ POSSIBLE RETIREMENT, IMPROVING IN BROADCAST BOOTH
In 2022, ahead of Dallas Cowboys coach McCarthy’s return to Lambeau Field, Rodgers said the passage of time had given him a greater appreciation of the seasons he spent with his former coach.
“It’s probably normal in any relationship you have,” Rodgers said at the time. “When you’re able to take time away, and you have that separation, it’s natural to look back and have a greater sense of appreciation and gratitude and thankfulness for that time.”
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, right, speaks at a news conference introducing him as the next head coach of the Steelers as owner Art Rooney II listens in at PNC Champions Club at Acrisure Stadium Jan. 27, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images)
McCarthy oversaw the Packers’ 2010 season when the franchise won its lone Super Bowl title during Rodgers’ career, but the relationship between the quarterback and coach eventually soured. McCarthy was fired late in the 2018 season.
Neither McCarthy nor his hometown Steelers have been back to the big game since. He knows the clock is ticking.
“It’s time to bring another championship back to this great city,” McCarthy said Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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It’s time to see which Mission League basketball teams are ready for some March Madness in February.
The tournament is set to begin Thursday after Tuesday’s final results clarified seedings.
The final game of the night was Crespi pulling out a 65-61 win over Loyola when Isaiah Barnes scored while falling down with 15 seconds left for the game-clinching basket. Despite the loss, Loyola claimed fourth place in the seedings while finishing in a three-way tie for fourth with Crespi and St. Francis.
The Cubs, though, are 14-14 and will need a win Saturday against the winner of Thursday’s Bishop Alemany (No. 8) vs. St. Francis (No. 5) game to keep alive their Southern Section playoff hopes. You need a .500 or better record to be considered for an at-large berth.
The other Thursday game has No. 7 Chaminade at No. 6 Crespi. That winner will play at Harvard-Westlake on Saturday.
Crespi was led by 6-foot-9 Rodney Mukendi, who scored 17 points. Deuce Newt had 15 points for Loyola.
Harvard-Westlake 90, St. Francis 56: Joe Sterling got back his shooting touch, making seven threes and finishing with 27 points. Amir Jones added 17 points for Harvard-Westlake. St. Francis did not play center Cherif Millogo.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 81, Bishop Alemany 48: The Knights claimed second place in the Mission League and an automatic spot for the Southern Section playoffs. Zach White had 26 points and 10 rebounds. Notre Dame played without NaVorro Bowman.
Sierra Canyon 79, Chaminade 28: Brandon McCoy had 18 points and Maxi Adams added 17 points for the Mission League regular-season champions.
Crean Lutheran 76, La Habra 67: The Saints took over first place in the Crestview League.
Mira Costa 53, Peninsula 41: Logan Dugdale has 17 points and 10 rebounds for Mira Costa (23-4).
Sports
Amanda Anisimova defends right to avoid ‘clickbait’ questions about US politics at Australian Open
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American tennis star Amanda Anisimova called out a reporter at the Australian Open for asking “clickbait” questions about representing the United States under the Trump administration, saying it was her “right” not to speak on political matters.
Speaking to reporters after her fourth-round victory over Wang Xinyu, Anisimova was asked about how she is handling the “discourse” that has surrounded her after a reporter asked her and several American tennis players about their thoughts on representing the Stars and Stripes.
Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. is congratulated by Katerina Siniakova, right, of the Czech Republic following their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)
“I feel like the internet is – it’s tough. It comes with the job, which is something I’ve learned to get used to,” she said, adding that there are days “where it bothers me a little bit.”
Anisimova, a finalist at the 2025 U.S. Open and Wimbledon, later addressed the incident involving the reporter, who OutKick reported was freelance journalist Owen Lewis.
“In my other press conference, the fact that I didn’t want to answer a question that was obviously intended for just like a headline and clickbait, that was my right. It had nothing to do with my political views or anything like that.”
Anisimova was initially asked at an earlier press conference how it felt to “play under the American flag right now.”
“I was born in America. So, I’m always proud to represent my country,” the New Jersey native said. “A lot of us are doing really well, and it’s great to see a lot of great athletes on the women’s side and men’s side. I feel like we’re all doing a great job representing ourselves.”
Amanda Anisimova of the United States in action against Simona Waltert of Switzerland in the first round on Day 2 of the 2026 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Jan. 19, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)
TENNIS STAR AMANDA ANISIMOVA DISMISSES REPORTER’S CYNICAL QUESTION ABOUT US: ‘I DON’T THINK THAT’S RELEVANT’
But the reporter later clarified his question, asking “in the context of the last year of everything that’s been happening in the U.S., does that complicate that feeling at all?”
Anisimova fired back, “I don’t think that’s relevant.”
Speaking to reporters Monday, she said it was wrong for fans to assume her politics based on that response, saying, “The fact that people assume that they know my stance on certain important topics is just wrong. It’s not factual. It’s tough, but I’ve learned to get used to it.”
Amanda Anisimova reacts after defeating Naomi Osaka during the women’s singles semifinals of the US Open tennis championships in Flushing Meadows, New York, on Sept. 5, 2025. (Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)
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Many social media users, including former American tennis stars John Isner and Tennys Sandgren, came to her defense and criticized the reporter’s line of questioning, which other American tennis players, including Taylor Fritz, were asked.
Fox News Digital’s Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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