Dodgers Dugout: What should the Dodgers do about Max Muncy?

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Since starting the season 8-0, the Dodgers have gone 10-10. They weren’t as good as their 8-0 start, they aren’t as bad as 9-10 since then. They are still on pace to win 104 games.

Longtime Dodger Max Muncy entered the spotlight in a unhappy way last week, when a fan started yelling at him that he sucked and was out of shape while Muncy was walking to the team bus after a game in Chicago. The “fan”, of course couldn’t wait to post it on social media. There is a name for fans like that: idiot.

However, the fact is a lot of fans have been down on Muncy this season. He’s an easy target when the team is having problems, even in past seasons. He generally has a low batting average. He is very streaky, with his good streaks being great but his bad streaks being terrible. And his defense at third has never been exactly Gold Glove level, but has never been as bad as many seem to think.

This season, he has started off in one of his bad streaks.

Through 27 games, Muncy is batting .173/.292/.235, good for an OPS+ of 55, meaning he is 45% worse than a league average hitter. That’s not good. A lot of fans were down on him last season, when, playing in only 77 games because of injury, he hit only .232 and struck out in over 25% of his plate appearances. Of course, he also drew 45 walks, had 17 doubles and 15 homers and his OPS+ was 142, meaning he was 42% better than the average hitter, And they were down on him in 2023, when he hit only .212 and struck out 153 times. Of course, he also hit 36 homers, drove in 105 runs and had an OPS+ of 117.

This season, many have pointed out how terrible he was in the World Series last year, when he was 0 for 16 with 10 strikeouts. That conveniently overlooks his NLCS, when he set a single postseason record by reaching base 12 straight times and finished the NLCS hitting .333/.630/.733 with two homers and 11 walks in 27 plate appearances (and only four strikeouts).

In short, he was typical Muncy, hot one minute, cold the next.

And he’s in a cold streak right now. The biggest concern with Muncy is his lack of power. Only five doubles and no home runs this season. The question is, is this a new norm for him or will he snap out of it? History tells us he will start hitting again, but at some point every ballplayer loses their skills (OK, maybe not Satchel Paige). The Dodgers can afford to be patient right now with him. After all, if Dave Roberts says Andy Pages has a runway of 150 plate appearances to start hitting, you have to figure the veteran Muncy has more leeway than that. Pages, who was the target of fans’ ire before Muncy, had four hits Sunday and is now hitting .277/.355/.506.

And I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for them to trade for St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado. Arenado is off to a good start, but was worse offensively than Muncy the last two seasons. Factor in that he is getting paid $32 million this year, $27 million next season and $15 million in 2027, while Muncy is getting paid $14.5 million this season and then becomes a free agent (unless the Dodgers pick up his $10-million option for 2026), then sticking with Muncy makes more sense for now.

The Dodgers made an interesting signing Friday. They signed former Reds first-round draft pick Nick Senzel to a minor-league contract. Senzel came up to the Reds as a center fielder but spent the last two season as a third baseman with the Reds, Washington and the Chicago White Sox. He never panned out offensively (career .232/.299/.363) and defensively he is actually worse than Muncy. But the Dodgers have done well in taking coal from other organizations and turning them into diamonds. It may turn out to be nothing, but it’s worth keeping an eye on how he does in the minors. Senzel was playing in Mexico this season and hit .591 with three homers and four walks in six games.

Third baseman with the best OPS+ since the start of the 2023 season, minimum 500 plate appearances and at least half his games played at third:

1. José Ramírez, 136
2. Rafael Devers, 129
3. Austin Riley, 125
4. Alex Bregman, 123
5. Isaac Paredes, 120
6. Max Muncy, 118
7. Matt Chapman, 117
8. Manny Machado, 116
9. Jordan Westburg, 114
10. Josh Jung, 111
16. Nolan Arenado, 106

And these are the Dodger hitters ranked by OPS+ this season:

Will Smith, 168
Freddie Freeman, 161
Shohei Ohtani, 159
Andy Pages, 146
Teoscar Hernández, 145
Tommy Edman, 125
Mookie Betts, 108
Kiké Hernández, 83
Michael Conforto, 83
Chris Taylor, 66
Max Muncy, 55
Eddie Rosario, 45
Austin Barnes, 20
Miguel Rojas, 14
Hunter Feduccia, 7

Dave Roberts is a nice guy

Saturday was Dave Roberts bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium. Usually, the person being honored chooses a family member to join them on the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Roberts did something different. You can read all about it in this story by Jack Harris, but here are some key details:

Roberts invited the Palisades High baseball team as his guests. Palisades High was damaged by the devastating fires we had and the baseball team had to play all their games on the road. Some of the players’ houses burned down. It was a tough year. Roberts visited the team earlier this season and has kept in touch with them through their season.

Some key quotes:

“When all this happened, I got emails from people all over the country, everybody wanting to help out and all that stuff,” Palisades baseball coach Mike Voelkel said. “But Dave is one of the few who has stuck by us … I don’t think they’ve invented an adjective yet to describe how appreciative and how thankful [we are].”

On being able to go on to the Dodger Stadium field and watch batting practice:

“This has been the coolest thing ever,” senior pitcher Ian Sullivan said. “I don’t have words.”

“I just spoke with Dave Roberts!” junior infielder Jett Teegardin said after Roberts came by to greet the team before the game. “How many people can say they’ve had a full conversation with him? It’s so cool.”

“He has been absolutely golden during this whole process,” Voelkel said.

We always hear about the bad things sports figures do. Sometimes, you need to put a spotlight on the good things they do too.

Bad rotation news?

Why have so much rotation depth? Because things can happen like Sunday. Tyler Glasnow left after pitching one inning because of the extremely nebulous “right should discomfort.” No further information is available at the moment, but it seems likely that he will be joining Blake Snell on the IL.

It was the third start that Glasnow left early this season. He previously left a start because he couldn’t get a feel for the ball in damp condition and he left a start because of leg cramps. He has made five starts but pitched only 18 innings. Combined, Glasnow and Snell are going to be paid about $60 million this season.

Glasnow thinks the problem Sunday is because he has been tinkering with his mechanics.

“I’m just obsessed with trying to figure out what’s going on,” Glasnow said. “And it’s been like this for a few years, and I’m trying to find a way to stay healthy, and I’ll try to do whatever. I just don’t really have an answer right now, and I think that’s the most frustrating thing. It’s not like a lack of trying. It’s just kind of just getting exhausting at this point.”

Glasnow continued: “I feel bad for my teammates. I feel bad for people watching.”

Meanwhile, Snell stopped a throwing session early last week because of discomfort in his pitching shoulder. Luckily, an MRI showed no new damage, but his return has been delayed because of it.

In the good news department, Tony Gonsolin is set to come off the IL and start Wednesday for the Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to pitch Tuesday for triple-A Oklaoma City and pitch five innings or throw 75 pitches. He can’t come off the 60-day IL until mid-May however. Shohei Ohtani threw off a mound before Saturday’s game, throwing 31 pitches. He is still only throwing four-seamers, two-seamers and splitters and the timetable for his return as a pitcher remains murky.

These names seem familiar

A look at how some prominent Dodgers from the past few seasons are doing with their new team. Click on the player name to be taken to the baseball-reference page with all their stats.

Batters

Cody Bellinger, Yankees: .200/.265/.329, 97 plate appearances, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, 13 RBIs, 63 OPS+

Jason Heyward, Padres, .190/.255/.286, 48 PA’s, 1 double, 1 homer, 6 RBIs, 53 OPS+

Gavin Lux, Reds: .333/.426/.437, 97 PA’s, 6 doubles, 1 homer, 13 RBIs, 142 OPS+

Joc Pederson, Rangers, .101/.205/.174, 79 PA’s, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 RBI, 13 OPS+

Corey Seager, Rangers: .286/.345/.468, 84 PA’s, 2 doubles, 4 homers, 6 RBIs, 137 OPS+

Justin Turner, Cubs: .163/.283/.163, 48 PA’s, 5 RBIs, 47 OPS+

Trea Turner, Phillies: .262/.345/.330, 116 PA’s, 4 doubles, 1 homer, 10 RBIs, 92 OPS+

Miguel Vargas, White Sox: .194/.282/.286, 110 PA’s, 6 doubles, 1 homer, 8 RBIs, 67 OPS+

Alex Verdugo, Braves: .333/.368/.472, 38 PA’s, 5 doubles, 5 RBIs, 134 OPS+

Pitching

Walker Buehler, Red Sox: 4-1, 4.28 ERA, 33.2 IP, 32 hits, 9 walks, 29 K’s, 96 ERA+

Jack Flaherty, Tigers: 1-2, 2.63 ERA, 27.1 IP, 19 hits, 9 walks, 34 K’s, 149 ERA+

Kenley Jansen, Angels: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 saves, 8 IP, 5 hits, 2 walks, 8 K’s

Craig Kimbrel, Braves: in the minors on a rehab assignment

Kenta Maeda, Tigers: 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 7 IP, 9 hits, 6 walks, 7 K’s, 46 ERA+

Max Scherzer, Blue Jays: 0-0, 6.00 ERA, 3 IP, 3 hits, 0 walks, 1 K, 74 ERA+

Ryan Yarbrough, Yankees: 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 11.2 IP, 12 hits, 5 walks, 13 K’s, 75 ERA+

Is there a player you’d like to see listed here? Email me at [email protected] and let me know.

Up next

Monday: Miami (Edward Cabrera, 0-1, 6.14 ERA) at Dodgers (Dustin May, 1-1, 3.68 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Tuesday: Miami (Sandy Alcantara, 2-2, 6.56 ERA) at Dodgers (TBD), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Wednesday: Miami (Cal Quantrill, 2-2, 7.83 ERA) at Dodgers (Tony Gonsolin, first start), 12:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Dave Roberts adopts Palisades High baseball team coping with fire’s destruction

Will the Dodgers lock in soon? | Dodgers Debate

Trevor Bauer’s latest court fight against Lindsey Hill stalls

Dodgers collaborate with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami on merchandise again. Here’s how to get it

And finally

Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and Don Zimmer in a commercial for Gillette razors. Watch and listen here.