Dodgers News: Max Muncy Feels Close to Returning to His 2021 Form
Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy was coming off a severe and heartbreaking injury he suffered in the final game of the 2021 season. Muncy missed the entire 2021 postseason after suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). The 32-year-old managed to play in 136 games in 2022, but was far from what he was in 2021 All-Star season.
The 2022 season was night and day as he slashed .196/.329/.384 with a .713 OPS compared to 2021 when he slashed .249/.368/.527 with a .895 OPS and finished in the top 10 in NL MVP voting.
Muncy hopes that his 2023 season is very similar to or even better than his 2021 season. The two-time All-Star spoke with OC Register’s Bill Plunkett and said his swing feels much better than last season.
“The actual swing feels very good, very close to how it was before,” Muncy said. “We are trying to mimic the moves from 2021, arguably my best year. So we’re trying to get back to that – which is what I tried to do last year, but my body just didn’t want to cooperate. We just kept beating the same drum over and over again and it just wasn’t working. But now that I’m healthy and strong and back, it feels like we’re able to imitate it a little bit.”
OC Register, Bill Plunkett
Muncy did make some tweaks to get back to what he was in 2021, but his body didn’t let him. That resulted in Muncy taking that step-back (literally) in the batter’s box that helped him get some of his power back. His numbers shot up a bit, but overall he still couldn’t find his rhythm.
All that is now behind the lefty slugger, who is now looking to do some damage to the league. He’s shown a glimpse of that thus far in spring training, where he is slashing .300/.400/.500 with a .900 OPS in 12 games and 30 ABs.
This is the Max Muncy the Dodgers need to make a deep playoff run; he’s clutch when it matters, and we have yet to see him in full strength with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, and J.D. Martinez.
We can’t wait to see that Funky Muncy ball out the way we know he can.
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