Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star third baseman Max Muncy has been dealing with leg bruising but revealed on Monday that he will be ready for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday.
“Everything feels good. I’ll be available for tomorrow,” Muncy said during media availability on Monday.
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Muncy has dealt with his fair share of injuries this season, dating back to the beginning of July when a scary knee injury sidelined him for a little over a month, and just eight games later missed close to another month with an oblique injury. Just 11 games after that, the bruising caused him to miss the last four games of the season.
After quite the slump to start the season, hitting .188 over his first 30 games, Muncy started to figure things out. After sporting glasses to address astigmatism in his right eye towards the end of April, the third baseman has been electric.
From the 31st game of Muncy’s season to when he went down with his oblique injury in August, he has a slash line of .295/.432/.596 with an OPS of 1.027.
In the 11 games since returning from his oblique injury and until his leg bruising sidelined him earlier this month, things have not been as great for the third baseman. Muncy is hitting just .118 with 10 strikeouts in that span with an OPS of .562.
Overall, Muncy enhoyed his highest year-end batting average (.243) since 2021 with an OPS+ of 136, almost 40 percent higher than league average. Muncy also finished in the 99th percentile in walk percentage, doing so 16.5 percent of his at-bats.
The value that the slugging third baseman brings from simply being a presence at the plate, drawing walks, and knowing when and where his pitches are (sitting in the 94th percentile in chase percentage, as well) only make him that much more of a formidable hitter in October. If he can tap back into the production he has displayed since May, the Dodgers will benefit greatly throughout their postseason run.
Photo Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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