It had been quite some time since Max Muncy last felt the joy of a sunflower seed shower from his teammates.
The Los Angeles Dodgers had gone 28 games without a Max Muncy home run, his longest such streak over the course of his career, but Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium hopefully broke the seal of some more long balls to come from the two-time All-Star.
Fans may not have noticed, but Muncy was wearing prescription glasses during his first dinger of the year, and plans to do so for the rest of the season due to a recent diagnosis of astigmatism in his right eye.
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Due to the sunny Los Angeles afternoon, it was easy for Muncy to debut his new look with sunglasses that had prescription lenses, per the Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris, but Friday’s start to a three-game set against the Atlanta Braves was the first time fans saw Muncy in his new frames.
“If there’s anything that can help out a little bit,” Muncy said, “I’ll try it.”
This isn’t the first time that glasses have been used to help a slumping hitter on the Dodgers.
Last season, Kiké Hernández was off to a .191 batting average before the All-Star break. After a diagnosis of astigmatism — also in his right eye — the utility man finished 2024 hitting .274 with a .766 OPS.
Hopefully, Muncy has a similar fate, as his batting average before Wednesday was just .180 with 16 hits, no home runs, and four RBIs. Especially with the veteran’s three home runs and .755 OPS in October last season, getting him going to have success deep into 2025 is the No. 1 priority.
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Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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2 Responses
Muncy could wear high-powered, telescopic lenses, and he still couldn’t hit! Told Dodgers Nation before the season to trade him, and go get Nolan Arenado, but the geniuses in the Dodgers front office did nothing, or couldn’t do anything to move him because no one wanted him. Muncy is FINISHED! LA gave him a life. Time to move on. There isn’t a position for him to play on this team. Roberts likes him, and kept him around, but he’s a defensive liability, and all he can do is walk, and hit an occasional home run. So WHY is he on this roster?? And, at $17 mil per year, Michael Conforto is abominable! WHO made that decision?? The facts are: the Dodgers have 6 lineup hitters that can reliably produce. The last 3 cannot be counted on. Chris Taylor can run and field, but can’t hit. Kike is an excellent utility player, and Rojas is great as a defensive replacement. Other than those mentioned, who does LA have in case some of their top players get hurt? The trade deadline must be seriously examined to bolster the Dodgers lineup with solid, role players that can produce. Arenado would be my 1st choice.
Muncy is not finished and the Dodgers have NOT tried to move him. And his recent uptick in hitting, and more importantly, getting on base via the walk proves it. All the experts (ESPN, FOX, MLB, Dodger coaches besides Roberts,) say his defense has improved this year and they expect his hitting to take off as well. Arenado is not coming to the Dodgers and St Louis will not trade him until the deadline, if then. He is the last big bat they have. (and he has only hot two home runs this year so that is not saying much.) Friedman says he is not planning any deadline moves this year. So unless there is someone really stupid out there (White Sox?) don’t expect any major moves. I am just glad the Dodgers don’t listen to you! Yeah, those geniuses in the front office really can’t compare to the ramblings of a fan… lol