For much of the summer, putting together a daily lineup was a tiresome exercise for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, toiling to piece together a patchwork roster plagued by injuries.
On Monday afternoon, however, the Dodgers skipper almost smiled when asked about that night’s batting order.
“On the position player side,” he said, “this, since opening day, is as healthy as we’ve been.”
Indeed, in a visual reminder of the Dodgers’ offensive potential when at full strength, the team fielded its best lineup in weeks — maybe months — for its series opener against the Seattle Mariners at Dodger Stadium.
Freddie Freeman followed leadoff hitters Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts in the third spot, having avoided the injured list despite being diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his right middle finger earlier Monday.
Max Muncy and Tommy Edman were activated from the injured list, resupplying the Dodgers with their opening-day third baseman (Muncy had been out since May 15 because of an oblique strain and rib injury) and marquee trade deadline acquisition (Edman had yet to play this season, for the Dodgers or St. Louis Cardinals, because of offseason wrist surgery and a sprained ankle).
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Even the one player who went on the IL — backup catcher Austin Barnes, who suffered a toe fracture after fouling a ball off his foot Sunday — is expected to miss the minimum 10 days, Roberts said.
“It seemed like everyone was pretty excited today, getting a couple pieces back,” Muncy said. “Definitely a little pep in the step for everybody, so hopefully we can just carry that onto the field and we can get everyone going at the right time right now.”
Freeman’s presence in the lineup was the biggest sigh of relief.
After exiting Saturday’s game in the eighth inning with a jammed right middle finger, then missing Sunday’s game because of continued swelling, the veteran first baseman got a CT scan on Monday that showed a hairline fracture.
However, an injured list stint was never much of a consideration, Roberts said, not after Freeman tested his still-bandaged finger in pregame drills and told the team he could tolerate the lingering…