Dodgers: Max Muncy Was Greatly Missed on Friday Night in Game 1
The Dodgers needed Max Muncy on Friday night. Looking to take a 1-game lead over the Giants in the Division Series, the Los Angeles offense went dead silent behind Walker Buehler. He gave up the early lead and San Francisco never looked back.
The offense was so bad that it was hard to ignore the fact that Max Muncy was sorely missed. The slugging Dodgers’ first baseman dislocated his elbow in the final game of the season and could potentially be out for most of the postseason.
But in the 2021 season, Muncy has owned the Giants. He slugged 8 homeruns and drove in 12 runs for the Dodgers in 19 games against their NL West rivals. And they really could have used him on Friday night against Logan Webb.
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Muncy is just 3-for-12 in his career against Webb, but one of those hits was a homerun. He also ended his season going 3-for-8 in his final 3 games of the season despite having a rough September.
Matt Beaty went 0-for-3 and left a pair of runners on base as Muncy’s replacement. But it’s also difficult to ignore that the entire Dodgers lineup was terrible. Muncy would have been nice to have, but he wouldn’t have solved everything.
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Yeah because SF missing Belt doesn’t count…fanzine site;
This year, SF has several home run/power hitting veteran players. In fact, Crawford and Posey both contributed quite a bit last night, and it did not seem that Belt was missed at all.
Yeah the Dodgers missed Muncy in the lineup but that would not have helped out Buehler as he forgot to show up at gametime, again. Walter has problems with the tight pants issue. The big ego, and lack of concentration when it really counts. When he is on the mound in high pressure situations. It’s a real shame that Julio doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He has always showed up at SHOWTIME. Not Buehler, Not Kershaw, Not Scherzer. But Julio. Every time.
Buehler has been excellent in past postseasons. He doesn’t lose it. Look at his numbers.
It is more of an issue of recent struggles. He did poorly overall in September, except his last start vs Milwaukee. They won’t admit it that it’s likely due to a heavier workload than he has done before. But to say he doesn’t come through in the postseason is just not accurate.
ElysianPark, you are so right. Buehler has been a postseason Monster. Even game 1 loss to the Giants start wasn’t terrible. He made two mistake pitches is all. Dodger bats could have erased those but were nowhere to be found. Both Buehler and Urias are outstanding. Other than last year, Kershaw had been anything but in the postseason.
All in all, it’s good to be a Dodger fan! I don’t envy the task at hand for the Giants. Having to face 55,000 boisterous fans yelling REPEAT LA? I do believe Giants’ fairytale season ends Tuesday at the Ravine.
The Dodgers were swinging at so many bad pitches it was like they were a different team. I know the calls were particularly bad but they should have overcome that. If they had patience they would have forced better counts. Swinging at balls in the dirt? Seriously Web wasn’t that good without the help of the Umpire. 4 players struck out with pitches 4 to 6 inches off the plate. I get it that the ump was the same for both. Buehler couldn’t find the same spot and should have taken advantage of that but his head wasn’t there. What the heck is he doing grooving a pitch down the middle with 3-0 count? That was not the look of a clutch pitcher. The series is far from over winning this tonight… puts the series and momentum in LA’s favor. Everyone will see they won’t be helping by swinging wildly out of the zone tonight.