Dodgers: Max Muncy Says Proving 2018 Was No Fluke Was Important To Him
Now one of the most dependable Los Angeles Dodgers and a dependable ‘every down back’, it didn’t always feel this way with Max Muncy. Undeniably, there were doubters prior to the 2019 season who believed Muncy would take a step backwards with a ‘sophomore slump’.
However, that is not what happened. Muncy slugged another 35 home runs and became an All-Star for the first time. Therefore, he joins AM570 to talk with David Vassegh about proving that his 2018 was no fluke, and the importance of that to him.
.@maxmuncy9: I worked as hard as I can to replicate that and I wanted to prove to everyone that it wasn't a fluke.
To be able to show everyone else that was very gratifying to me and something I really enjoyed. (?: @THEREAL_DV) https://t.co/OJ2M4DNng1
— AM 570 LA Sports (@AM570LASports) January 10, 2020
As a sidebar, we first learn that Muncy is friends with new Carolina Panthers’ head coach Matt Rhule. Rhule coached football as Muncy’s alumni school Baylor.
Then Vassegh asks Muncy how important it was to stack a great 2019 on top of his initial 2018 campaign with the Dodgers.
“It meant a lot to me. I had that great first year, so I worked as hard as I can to make sure I can try to replicate that. I wanted to be just as productive and prove to everyone that it wasn’t just a fluke. Me personally, I knew it wasn’t a fluke but something I always had in me, I just wasn’t able to put it all out on the field yet. We have talked about it a whole bunch in the past. I was able to make some changes and go out there and be the player I know I can be.”
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Obviously, when you hear Muncy close his statements on his solid follow-up act; you realize just how much he may have believed in himself while a lot of others didn’t.
“To be able to show everyone else that 2018 wasn’t just a fluke of a year and that’s what I know I am capable of doing was very gratifying to me and something I really enjoyed.”
Muncy’s story is one as unique as any other. One post from the past comes to mind as I hear Muncy talk. It’s this one about his father talking him out of giving up the game of baseball altogether. Certainly a lot of hard work went in following that moment, and now Muncy is a rising star in Los Angeles. He has the mural and the World Series home run to prove it.
NEXT: ESPN Ranks Muncy as Top-10 2B in MLB
Even Muncy knows there are some fluke years by others. There are too many of those types on the Dodgers. Time to drain the swamp
No. Constant platooning kills a players rhythm and consistency, two things for which our offense is continually plagued. Muncy threatened Robert’s last year not to platoon him. Results? Consistency. Think more of the players ought to threaten Doc the same way. Thank goodness for Max Moonshot Muncy
Good points here, Ralph. Constant platooning kills a player’s rhythm as you say, or at least most players. Some just have bad splits which results in a need to be platooned. and yes the offense can suffer for that as a result. Muncy has shown he can handle LHP and IMHO Dodgers should have been able to pay him what he was asking for.
I think it’s a business formality, Paul. A business formality that in Muncy’s case, should have been foregone, to be perfectly honest.