Dodgers: 3 players you can’t blame for LA’s cold streak

1. Max Muncy

You can’t stop Max Muncy. You can only hope to contain him.

Unfortunately, for most MLB pitchers, that hasn’t happened lately, either. Walls can only go so far and so high.

Thus far in 2021, Muncy has already been worth 2.0 WAR, starring defensively as always and flashing his immense power. It’s so easy to forget Los Angeles plucked him directly off the Oakland A’s scrap heap. It truly is.

In the past week, though, Muncy has specifically picked his power stroke up just when the Dodgers discourse was starting to reach its highest and most dire point. In a seven-game, 24-at-bat stretch, Muncy has cracked four homers, hit .333, walked eight times and paced the offense, seemingly willing Mookie Betts and Corey Seager to join him.

We expected Betts to be this team’s linchpin — and yes, our expectations for him are so high that his .364 OBP in the team’s last seven-game stretch doesn’t register as particularly exceptional. Oops. His back injury has continued to linger through the early part of the season, though, which he readily admits has thrown him off or sapped power.

Muncy’s power, on the other hand, has been especially prodigious lately. The only sap in his game has been dripping off the freshly-sliced tree trunks he’s been using to destroy baseballs deep into the night.

Some players are simply fun to root for, and Muncy’s energy — especially during these dark times — has not gone unnoticed.

After all, he faced darker times before the Dodgers took a flyer on him.

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