Max Muncy’s 2025 season has been nothing if not enigmatic.
But lately, after a woeful opening month on both sides of the ball, the good (his bat) has been outweighing the bad (his glove).
In the Dodgers’ 6-5 win against the New York Mets on Tuesday, such a duality came into plain view.
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In the first inning, Muncy punctuated a four-run ambush of Mets starter Tylor Megill with a two-run home run deep to right field. In the fifth, he committed a costly error at third base that fueled New York’s go-ahead two-run rally. Yet, in the ninth, the veteran slugger capitalized upon his chance for redemption, clobbering his second long ball of the night to tie the score — and set up Freddie Freeman for a walk-off double (with a lot of help from Brandon Nimmo’s poor outfield defense) in the bottom of the 10th.
After an ice-cold opening month with the bat, Muncy has caught fire over his last 22 games, batting .314 with eight home runs (including six in the last seven games), 28 RBIs, 14 walks and only 10 strikeouts.
Freddie Freeman is doused by Andy Pages after hitting a walk-off, 10th-inning double Tuesday. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
His defense remains a glaring weak spot, exposed repeatedly in key situations during the Dodgers’ slog through May and the opening days of June.
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But for now, his production at the plate is giving him a long leash to work through such issues.
Without his offense Tuesday, the Dodgers likely would’ve lost their third straight game.
When Muncy came up as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers hadn’t scored since his first home run eight innings prior.
Megill had found his footing, retiring 16 of his final 17 batters over a six-inning start. The Dodgers had wasted a golden opportunity to come back in the eighth, coming up empty even after getting the go-ahead runs on second and third base with no outs.
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Muncy, however, extended the game with one swing, connecting on an elevated fastball for a no-doubt missile that traveled 408 feet. He flipped his bat as he left the box. He rounded the bases with a steady, confident gait.
An inning later, after Tanner Scott broke out of his recent struggles by holding the Mets scoreless in the top of the 10th, Freeman walked it off on a fly ball that Nimmo let fall at the warning track in left, getting all turned around as the ball came barreling toward the earth to let automatic runner Tommy Edman score with ease.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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