After adopting a “step back” in his mechanics last year, the slugger is healthy and back to feeling right at the plate.
After starting last season mired in a terrible slump at the plate, Dodgers slugger Max Muncy got desperate in searching for something to help him get back on track. That came in the form of a swing change that almost immediately paid off at the plate.
Over the first four months of the year, Muncy hit just .163 with a .613 OPS. The bat started coming to life a bit in August as he began to experiment with his setup in the box. He squatted down a little lower to get better on plane with pitches and, more famously, adopted a step back with his left foot that helped with his timing.
Muncy eventually admitted that the devastating elbow injury he sustained in the final game of the 2021 regular season was a huge contributing factor in his struggles at the plate. Now, after a healthy offseason this past winter, Max is back to old habits in a good way.
The Dodgers held an intrasquad scrimmage game at Camelback Ranch on Thursday where the third baseman was the only batter to get a hit in the short 2 inning affair. He did so without the step back.
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“I feel great. I feel strong, I feel healthy,” Max told Doug McKain after the scrimmage. “Coming in, not having any setbacks, not having anything holding me back. I feel really good right now.”
With the loss of key hitters like Justin and Trea Turner in the lineup, there’s a renewed urgency for Max Muncy to return to his power hitting ways. After adopting that step back last year, he hit .247 with an .858 OPS over the final 53 games of the season. 24 of his 47 hits after that point were of the extra base variety.
That pop added alongside new sluggers J.D. Martinez and David Peralta in the middle of the lineup will be key for the Dodgers in the club’s quest for another NL West crown in 2023.
