Dodgers’ Max Muncy Gets Honest About Defensive Struggles, Takes Blame for Loss

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost their series with the New York Mets, and third baseman Max Muncy believes Sunday’s 3-1 loss was his fault.

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Shohei Ohtani started the scoring early as he hit a 411-foot bomb off Kodai Senga on the second pitch of the game, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead over the Mets.

Things quickly took a turn in the bottom of the first as Muncy bobbled a two-out grounder from Juan Soto to extend the inning. Muncy’s eight errors this season are second-most among MLB third basemen.

Pete Alonso homered in the very next at-bat, and the Mets wouldn’t relinquish their lead for the rest of the game.

“It makes you feel like the game is on your shoulders. That’s how I feel, at least,” Muncy said. “It’s a play that needs to be made, and I should have made it. It’s just a frustrating one.”

The Dodgers have made it clear that winning the division is imperative. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman attributed the tight race for the NL West as a main factor for the release of Chris Taylor and designating Austin Barnes for assignment.

Perhaps, Muncy is feeling the pressure to perform knowing every game matters for the Dodgers this season. While that may be the case, the Dodgers third baseman has struggled defensively as he ranks in the 2nd percentile in Outs Above Average, per Baseball Savant.

“It’s tough,” Muncy said of his defensive struggles. “It’s one of those things where l’m just really not good defensively right now. Not going to shy away from it, but all I can do is keep showing up every day, working on it, trying to figure things out, trying to get better. That’s what l’ve been doing. That’s what I’m gonna keep doing. If you let it get you down, it’s gonna keep getting worse. For me, I just gotta keep showing up every single day, and keep working as hard as I can to figure it out. Keep believing in myself, that I know I can be a good defender. I know I haven’t shown it. But I know I can be a good defender. And so I got to keep believing in myself and just keep showing up and putting in the work.”

Offensively, Muncy has not been much better. The 34-year-old is hitting .210 with three home runs and 20 runs batted in on the season. He has an OPS of .670 over 157 at-bats.

There have been rumblings that the Dodgers are looking to upgrade at the hot corner, but the team had the chance to do just that last offseason. All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado was anything but coy about his preferred trade destination, and the Dodgers could have snagged the 10-time Gold Glove winner.

Nevertheless, the Dodgers penciled in Muncy as their third baseman for the season and it remains a mystery how long the team will wait for him to turn a corner.

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Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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