Close observers of the National League West over the last few seasons have come to know the Los Angeles Dodgers as a franchise completely immune to the misfortunes normally brought on by injuries, slumps, and ill-conceived contracts. They’ve spent the last few years carrying around worthless veterans with bloated contracts, dealing with long-term injuries to scores of key players, and watching important hitters fall into deep, prolonged slumps.
And all they’ve done during this period is win tons of games. They’ve done so by pulling a constant supply of trump cards. Whenever disaster strikes, the Dodgers always seem to have yet another homegrown talent ready to burst onto the scene and carry the team for a few weeks, or a previously washed-up veteran ready to leap off the scrap heap and do the same. You know all these guys: Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Rich Hill, Alex Wood, Chris Taylor, Ross Stripling, and so on.
But this year, things finally seemed to be reaching a breaking point. They started the season horribly, losing Seager to a season-ending injury and Kershaw to yet another lengthy DL stint. Hyun-Jin Ryu went down, Justin Turner got hurt and hasn’t hit well since returning, and super prospect Julio Urias remains stuck in rehab purgatory. The Dodgers were 16-26 on May 16, and it looked like, for once, there were no more cards in the deck.
And then along came goddamn Max Muncy. This guy, a 27-year-old minor-league veteran who washed out of the A’s organization, is currently leading the Dodgers in on-base percentage, OPS, home runs, and walks. The Dodgers have used him at first base, third base, and left field, and all he’s done is knock the hell out of the ball. He hit his 17th home run of the season against the Cubs last night, the 10th dinger he’s hit in the month of June. His 1.026 OPS is currently tops in the National League.
Max Muncy! It was one thing when the Dodgers were getting season-saving boosts from guys like Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, and Cody Bellinger, as those were guys with some real pedigree and/or minor-league track records. But Muncy is something else entirely. Before moving to Los Angeles, he had accrued 215 major-league at-bats with the A’s, and managed to produce a slugging percentage of .321 in those at-bats. The most homers he’d ever hit in a minor-league campaign was 21, which he managed in 428 High-A plate appearances in 2013. Now, somehow, he’s the best power hitter on a surging Dodgers team.
If you want an explanation for how Muncy has managed to turn himself into a dangerous hitter, smart guys like Jeff Sullivan can help you out. All I’m here to do is screw my face up in a look of disgust at the Dodgers’ ability to keep finding hundred-dollar bills stuffed between their couch cushions. The Dodgers are now 43-37, Clayton Kershaw is back on the mound, and some fucking guy named Max Muncy won’t stop hitting dingers. It’s too much!