Max Muncy finally announces his 2025 arrival, ends drought with resounding homer

Max Muncy hasn't had a lot of reasons to smile lately, nor has he given Dodgers fans any reason to when he steps up to the plate. Going into Wednesday's game against the Marlins, he was batting .180 with a .531 OPS, just four RBI, and zero homers. For a guy like Muncy, who is usually a defensive liability and has made his name on his power, that's a very, very bad sign.

He's been working with Dodgers hitting coaches on adjusting his swing and trying to correct a "misunderstanding" in his mechanics, but nothing looked like it was taking before Wednesday.

However, even if it had to be against the Marlins, whose pitching staff has the worst collective ERA in baseball, he finally gets to say that he has his first homer of the season.

Facing Cal Quantrill in his first at-bat at the bottom of the second, Muncy got a low and away fastball and got a hold of it. It was pretty clear off the bat that it was a homer, but it traveled a massive 433 feet at 107.7 MPH into straightaway center field. It took 106 at-bats, but now we can all collectively breathe a little sign of relief.

Dodgers' Max Muncy finally powers out his first homer of the season against the Marlins

A single solo homer isn't necessarily a sign that a complete reawakening has arrived, but hopefully this does mean that Muncy has started to come out of his slumber. The slump had to be getting to him mentally, and at least this could help restore some confidence and remind him what he's historically been capable of.

This is a decisive season for Muncy. The Dodgers have a club option on him for 2026, and they could easily wade into the free agency or trade markets in the offseason and look for upgrades. There could be internal options too, if the Dodgers ever feel like Hyeseong Kim is ready.

One homer doesn't mean he's safe; there's still a lot of work he has to do to prove that he belongs on the roster for one more season, but this is a step in the right direction. This is a guy who hit 15 homers in less than half a season last year. If he can get hot quickly and bounce back from this incredibly worrisome opening slump, then he'll have an argument to stay next year.