PHOENIX -- Opening Day is one week away, and Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy is batting .179 with a .545 OPS.

A year ago, as a non-roster invitee, Muncy was hitting .286 in only seven games when he was sent to the Minor Leagues in early March. Not much was expected from Muncy, certainly not the 35 home runs and .973 OPS he posted in a spectacular breakout season that began in the Minor Leagues.

Expectations this year, though, are off the charts. But Muncy doesn’t have a home run this spring after leading the league in home runs per at-bat ratio last season. He missed four games last week with a stiff wrist but downplayed the severity, saying he would have played with it had the season started. He said it’s still not 100 percent, but the improvement has been steady.

“It was a lot better [Thursday],” Muncy said after going 2-for-4 with a double and strikeout in Thursday’s 11-5 loss to the Brewers. “This was the first day I was really able to slow everything down. When you come back from not seeing game pitching, it kind of speeds up. I felt good today and hope I keep trending upward.”

Chances are, Muncy will pull out of this funk, as he did last year after he hit .195 from July 24 to Aug. 5. But what’s the Dodgers’ Plan B at first base against right-handed pitchers -- David Freese plays against lefties -- if Muncy is injured or not productive?

“I think all hitters kind of get their timing at different points of time,” said manager Dave Roberts. “To be honest with you, as long as Max is staying in the strike zone for me, he has a simple swing and I think he’ll be fine. I haven’t really thought about a Plan B.”

Roberts agrees that Muncy is trending upward.

“It’s still a work in progress,” Roberts said. “He stayed in the strike zone much better today. I’d like to think that those at-bats [in a Minor League game] yesterday, regardless of what happened, helped him. He looked more comfortable in the box today. He’ll be in there tomorrow, give him a day off Saturday and he’ll be ready to go for the Freeway Series.”

Muncy is not panicking.

“I don’t want to change anything from last year,” he said. “I feel like that’s one thing that gets guys in trouble. They have a year like I had, they come in and want to change things. You can always get better, that’s true, but if you start changing the work it gets you in trouble.”

The Dodgers know they can always put Cody Bellinger on first base. Bellinger hasn’t played an inning there this spring, having inherited Yasiel Puig’s job in right field. But Bellinger has taken ground balls in the infield all spring and said he’ll always be comfortable playing his natural position.

And to play that scenario out, moving Bellinger to the infield would open right field for top Dodgers prospect Alex Verdugo, who Roberts again indicated is likely to make the club, anyway.

One roster option for the Dodgers closed Thursday when Brad Miller, who has a 30-homer season on his resume, opted out of his Minor League contract.

“You either make the team or you get to see what your options are,” Miller said before exercising his opt-out clause. “It’s pretty easy for my end. If another team has a big league opportunity, I’m a big league player. I want to make this club. It’s a good team with a lot of good players. It’s a good fit, a winning club and I’ve never played in a postseason. I chose to come here over other spots.

“The biggest thing is, they care to win here. They’ve uncovered every stone, from Minor League signings to trades to waivers to big league signings, everything to get good players on their team and reward them if they perform. That was the biggest draw for me.”