One series later, he homered in his first game in San Francisco. Roberts noticed an uptick in Muncy’s quality of at-bat in Colorado in the last series of July.
Whether it played a role in Muncy’s turnaround is impossible to know, but the results since those talks began have been astounding. "So, for us, when we start having those conversations in late July, we went into it with the idea of trying to figure something out that would provide him that peace of mind and also continue what he’s done here for the last four-plus years." "I think there was some peace of mind for him, knowing that he would be here, that, I think, mattered to him," Friedman said. Friedman hoped the extension would put Muncy at ease, that it might help remove any stress preventing what the Dodgers believe still exists. The new contract was less a reward for Muncy’s tantalizing play of late - he has a 1.185 OPS through his first 16 games of August - and more a gesture of confidence that this level of play remained possible, dormant, waiting to be tapped. Knowing what he's gone through in the past, we knew that he wasn't going to quit." "I think every player has something that motivates them, and to kind of prove people wrong again, that, ‘I deserve an extension,’ I think everyone has their own motivation. "He came into this game as a big-league ballplayer with nothing but upside and having to prove people wrong," manager Dave Roberts said. The plans to extend Muncy were put in motion before his season turned around. They believed his underlying numbers were better than the results and continued reiterating that to him, particularly as his frustration built. Just trying to understand where I was, with everyone around me picking me up and reminding me of certain things, things got a little bit easier."Īpart from a brief early June respite - one that allowed him time to rest both his elbow and his mind - the Dodgers continued playing Muncy, primarily hitting in the middle of the lineup. "I think just not being a good baseball player was weighing on me," Muncy said. After the first game of the season, his batting average never crossed the Mendoza Line again. Muncy returned in time for Opening Day this year, but his production took a significant hit as he worked to re-find his mechanics. He didn’t look the same after last October’s collision at first base with Milwaukee’s Jace Peterson, which injured the UCL in Muncy’s left elbow and ended his 2021 season prematurely. Muncy called it a relief to get the extension done, though his struggles at the plate had burdened him far more than his contract uncertainty. Around that time, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman began discussing with Muncy’s agent the possibility of keeping him in Los Angeles beyond this year. 161/.310/.303 at the end of July, the Dodgers continued playing the scuffling slugger, trusting he would get right. Even as Muncy’s slash line sat at a dismal. They proved it in 2020, rewarding him with a three-year contract extension after he exploded with back-to-back 35-homer seasons.Īnd this season, amid a down year that at times has left Muncy questioning his abilities, the Dodgers again demonstrated their unyielding belief in the two-time All-Star. They did it again a year later, bringing him back to the big leagues. They showed it in 2017, signing him to a minor-league deal and allowing him to rediscover his zest for the game after the Oakland Athletics cast him off. In good times and bad, they demonstrated it. The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t just say they believed in Max Muncy.
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