Max Muncy has what Dodgers want in a leadoff hitter

A prototypical leadoff hitter Max Muncy is not. At a stout 5 feet 10 and 215 pounds, he is more rectangular than sleek, more slugger than speedster.

Before Tuesday, Muncy had an average of one home run every 14.2 at-bats, which ranked sixth in the National League among players with at least 75 plate appearances. He had zero stolen bases in his first 124 big league games.

But there was Muncy at the top of the Dodgers order Tuesday for the second time in three games, manager Dave Roberts tasking the first baseman with catalyzing the offense in place of the struggling Chris Taylor, who was dropped out of the first spot May 11.

“The thing for us right now is to have that consistent at-bat at the top of the order, and that’s what Max has done,” Roberts said before the game. “He has a consistent approach. He’ll take a walk and he can slug, too.Knowing he’s going to get four or five at-bats, I’ll bet on that.”

It didn’t pay off Tuesday, as Muncy went 0 for 4, striking out three times. But the 27-year-old has made strides since he signed with the Dodgers in late April after he was released by Oakland at the end of spring training in 2017. He had his best minor league season at triple-A Oklahoma City, hitting .309 with a .905 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 12 home runs and 44 RBIs in 109 games.

“I made a lot of little mechanical changes, whether it was a foot placement in the box or an adjustment with my hands, that, overall, equaled one big change,” Muncy said. “And I carried it over to this year.”

The Dodgers recalled Muncy on April 17 to fill in for injured third baseman Logan Forsythe. With Corey Seager’s season-ending elbow surgery in early May pushing Taylor from center field to shortstop and, eventually, first baseman Cody Bellinger to center field, Muncy is playing first base.

With a .254 average, .372 on-base percentage, .535 slugging percentage, five home runs and 15 RBIs in 86 plate appearances over 28 games before Tuesday, Muncy is carving out a role. He has hit first or second in four of five games.

“He really knows the strike zone,” Roberts said. “Early on, he was being exposed by some soft stuff below the zone, but he’s adjusted, he’s played the cat-and-mouse game with pitchers.

“He knows exactly what he wants to do, given a particular pitcher, each time he steps in the box. He’s young in service time but very ahead of the game as far as his mindset as a major league ballplayer.”

Rehab report

Roberts said left-hander Clayton Kershaw (biceps tendinitis) will throw an “aggressive” bullpen session Wednesday and a simulated game of three or four innings, from 45 to 60 pitches, against hitters Saturday.

If Kershaw, who has been on the disabled list since May 6, does not suffer any setbacks, he could skip a minor league rehab assignment and pitch for the Dodgers against Philadelphia on May 31.

Rich Hill threw a 31-pitch bullpen session Tuesday with a small adhesive bandage covering the blister on his left middle finger, which burst after two pitches in Washington on Saturday and sent the left-hander to the DL again.

Hill, who hopes to throw to batters in his next workout, said he has not heard from Major League Baseball about his request to pitch with tape on his finger.

Short hops

Walker Buehler sported a baseball-sized bruise on his right rib cage, courtesy of the 108-mph line drive off the bat of Colorado’s Trevor Story that struck him in the fifth inning Monday night. But the right-hander said he is fine to make his next start. “It doesn’t feel great — it’s like I got punched, and it’s kind of tight,” Buehler said. “But I’ll take it on the ribs rather than the elbow all day.” … The Dodgers optioned reliever Pat Venditte to triple A to clear a roster spot for Brock Stewart, who started against the Rockies and allowed two runs on five hits in four innings.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

@MikeDiGiovanna