Max Muncy will miss the Rockies series on paternity leave

The Dodgers on Friday will place first baseman Max Muncy on the paternity list to be with his wife Kellie for the birth of the couple’s first child. The infielder will miss the three-game series against the Rockies.

“Max is going to have a baby tomorrow,” manager Dave Roberts said after Thursday’s game. “He’ll be away from us for the weekend, and he’ll join us on Tuesday.”

A stay on Major League Baseball’s paternity leave list can last up to three days, which means Muncy, after playing in all four games against the Giants at Dodger Stadium, will miss the Rockies series, then be ready when the Dodgers start a series in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Roberts said earlier in the week the Muncys didn’t plan to induce labor, but apparently plans changed, in coordination with the schedule.

“My wife actually planned that one out. We’re gonna induce” Muncy told Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday. “She didn’t want me to miss any games against the Giants.”

Muncy, who announced his wife’s pregnancy in January on Instagram with a bulletin board that read, “What else was there to do in the bubble?,” said on Saturday after a four-hit, two-homer, five-RBI game at Coors Field that his mind was elsewhere during the game.

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about the game too much,” Muncy told Kirsten Watson on SportsNet LA. “My mind’s a little elsewhere right now.”

The Dodgers had contingency plans at the ready should Kellie Muncy go into labor, first having Zach Reks with the team for the final two days in Colorado before he was called up Monday when Gavin Lux went on the injured list. Reks was optioned on Thursday when Billy McKinney was activated.

The Dodgers will add a player to the active roster to replace Muncy on Friday.