Dodgers: The Three Biggest Surprises of the First Half

The surprising emergence of Max Muncy

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The Dodgers lost Justin Turner back in spring training and figured the club would struggle offensively trying to replace both Turner and Corey Seager in the lineup.  Early on the Dodgers did struggle, things didn’t turn around until late May and that is when Max Muncy started blasting balls out of Dodger Stadium.

Max Muncy had five career big league home runs in just over 200 at-bats with the Oakland A’s.  This season with a little over 200 at-bats, Muncy has 22 home runs and earned himself a spot in the home run derby later on today, despite failing to win the National League’s final all-star vote.  One of the things that has made Muncy so good, is his ability to hit left-handed pitching.  This season, mad Max has a .333 batting average against southpaw pitchers.

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Not only is Max Muncy leading the Dodgers in home runs, he has also been a very versatile player, seeing time at third base, second base, and first base.  Muncy is still a work in progress at second base but he has shown signs that he can handle it on numerous occasions.  Having Max Muncy is going to allow the Dodgers to give more rest to guys like Justin Turner who is still bothered by his wrist on occasion.