The Los Angeles Dodgers cruised to a seventh consecutive National League West title and franchise-best 106 wins this past season behind one of the most formidable offenses in all of baseball.
All-Star Cody Bellinger put together a historic campaign and now finds himself in the running for 2019 NL MVP honors. Other notable contributors that enjoyed success at the plate include Max Muncy, who proved that his breakout 2018 season wasn’t a fluke.
The 29-year-old posted career-highs in numerous categories while appearing at three different positions over the course of the season. He matched a personal-best with 35 home runs and additionally drew 90 walks as a result of his patient approach.
Ross Stripling recently praised Muncy while specifically noting his incredible plate discipline and at-bat quality during the 2019 season, via “The Big Swing” podcast:
“Really, just an unbelievable year for Muncy. I’m stoked for him. He’s a North Texas guy, I’ve been playing him since I was 17, he’s the most annoying person to pitch to in the whole world. … Nowadays every hitter is a prima donna, right? If they get rung up on a strike that they think is a ball, they’re going to complain about it. If Muncy complains, it was a ball. I’m convinced. Muncy knows that the plate is 17 inches and he knows if it’s on that 18th inch, and he will tell you about it. Muncy is super impressive. He works at-bats like crazy.”
Muncy first broke out onto the scene for the Dodgers in 2018, when he unexpectedly became a focal part of the lineup despite beginning the year with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Muncy posted a stellar .973 on-base plus slugging with 54 extra-base hits in 137 games, establishing himself as one of the most productive hitters in the NL. He followed up that performance with an even better 2019 campaign and was selected to his first career All-Star team.
In 141 games during the regular season, Muncy batted .251/.374/.515 with 22 doubles, one triple, 35 home runs, 98 RBI and 101 runs scored across 589 plate appearances. He went on to hit .263/.391/.737 with three home runs, seven RBI and four walks against the Washington Nationals in the NL Division Series.
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