Max Muncy's Brent Honeywell hype shows why Dodgers locker room is special

Though the title of "MVP" is typically reserved for a singular player, the World Series-bound Los Angeles Dodgers have had several.

It took a village of unlikely heroes to lift the injury-riddled Dodgers to a National League pennant in 2024. One such hero is reliever Brent Honeywell, who joined the Dodgers in July and has had to overcome several years' worth of injury setbacks of his own to earn a trip to the World Series.

Honeywell, a former top prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays' system, was sidelined for nearly three full seasons from 2018-21 as he dealt with various injuries. The Rays essentially gave up on him prior to the 2022 season, trading him to the Oakland A's for cash. He suffered another elbow injury at the beginning of the season, and he wouldn't see another Major League mound until the following year, when he signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres.

The Padres designated Honeywell for assignment in August 2023, and the Chicago White Sox claimed him off waivers only to DFA him two weeks later. He went unclaimed and was outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte, where he finished out the 2023 season.

Honeywell signed a minor-league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates prior to the 2024 season and spent the majority of the campaign in Triple-A Indianapolis. He earned a brief call-up to Pittsburgh in July, logging a 2.70 ERA in 3 1/3 innings for the Pirates before being DFA'd just a few days later.

The pitching-hungry Dodgers picked Honeywell up off waivers in July, giving him another shot at the big-league level. He pitched to a 2.21 ERA over 20 1/3 innings before the Dodgers placed him on waivers to make room on the roster for Ben Casparius. This time, Honeywell accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he spent two weeks until the Dodgers selected his contract once again to fill the active roster spot vacated by injured right-hander Joe Kelly.

The rest, as they say, is history. After a cracked fingernail sidelined him briefly and left him off the Dodgers' NLDS roster, Honeywell earned a spot in the bullpen for the NLCS against the New York Mets. He tossed three scoreless innings in Game 3 of the series, and even made history as the first pitcher to throw a screwball in a postseason game.

Max Muncy's Brent Honeywell hype shows why Dodgers locker room is special

Honeywell went on to surrender four runs over 4 2/3 innings in Game 5 of the NLCS, preserving the Dodgers' bullpen for their pennant-clinching Game 6. His postseason numbers don't exactly leap off the page, but his Dodgers teammates recognize the value Honeywell brings to the roster that doesn't necessarily show up on the scoresheet.

Rob Friedman of Pitching Ninja posted an Instagram reel of an interview with Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy in the clubhouse immediately following Los Angeles' Game 6 win over the Mets with a caption that simply read, "The Importance of Being a Great Teammate." Muncy sang Honeywell's praises and credited him with winning Game 6 for the Dodgers by eating crucial innings and saving the bullpen in Game 5.

"This guy," Muncy said, referring to Honeywell, " Put him in any position. You need two outs? He's got you. You need three innings? He's got you. This guy don't care. You need someone to throw live BP in San Diego? He's got you."

Muncy went on to explain that Honeywell "might have gotten Mookie Betts right" by throwing live BP to the Dodgers slugger while he was rehabbing from a fractured left hand.

"He's one of the heartbeats of this team," Muncy said. "It doesn't get stated enough. He doesn't get enough credit. This dude's amazing – on the bus, in the clubhouse, in the bullpen – he's amazing."

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