Dodgers: Max Muncy Thinks About NLDS Loss ‘Every Single Day’
The Dodgers lost the NLDS to the Padres in October, winning the first game and then crashing and burning in the final three games. It was excruciating to watch, and as it turns out, it was at least as awful for the players.
LA infielder Max Muncy sat down with Dodgers Nation recently and was asked if the playoff loss gives him and his teammates more motivation coming into 2023.
“Always. That was a tough exit last year. We played poorly, they played great, they outplayed us. We just, I don’t know, I still think about it every single day about what happened in that series. We got to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“When that happens, like I said, I’ve just been sitting here thinking about it every single day. Why did that happen? What did we do wrong? And I know there’s a lot of guys that are probably thinking the same thing. I know there’s a lot of staff that are thinking the same thing. Front office thinking the same thing. And I know everyone’s been working hard and is going to be hungry to show up for spring and make sure that doesn’t happen. And I think we have all the right tools. We just got to go out there and do it.”
It’s easy to look at the series and identify what went wrong — the main issue was the Dodgers didn’t hit with runners in scoring position — but it’s harder to figure out why. Plenty of armchair hitting coaches will tell you it’s easy, but it’s not, mostly because it’s very unlikely there was one single reason. Was it approach? Was it intensity? Was it bad luck? Was it something else or this other something else? Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes, with a few more yeses we haven’t thought of yet.
Will extra motivation help Los Angeles prevent a repeat of last year’s debacle? We have no way of knowing. We also don’t know if the added motivation heading into spring training will still be around seven or eight months later when the postseason rolls around. But anyone who thinks the players don’t care, it’s pretty clear that’s wrong.
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