The Los Angeles Dodgers have made a positive start to the defense of their World Series title in the opening two months of the 2025 campaign. Their formidable batting lineup has allowed the team to cope with the numerous absentees on the pitching staff.
Nevertheless, there have been a few Dodgers hitters who are not living up to the high expectations at the club. Max Muncy was counted among those after enduring a very slow start to the year.
Max Muncy Grateful to Dodgers for Keeping Trust in Him Despite Early Season Slump
Muncy had delivered a strong campaign for the Dodgers last year when he was on the field, having missed more than half of the season due to injury. However, he struggled in the postseason and carried over his slump into the opening weeks of the 2025 season.
The Dodgers’ third baseman went 20-113 in his first 35 games to average below .180 with only one home run. In the 23 games since then until this Thursday, his batting average has been over .300, with eight homers and an OPS of over 1.000.
Earlier this week, Muncy gave an interview with Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation. The two-time All-Star expressed his gratitude to the Dodgers’ front office and coaching staff for keeping their faith in him despite making a sluggish start to the campaign.
“It means everything to know you have the support of your coaching staff, your front office, and your teammates. Seeing those guys every single day, trying to back you up, trying to keep you positive,” Muncy said.
“That’s something that this clubhouse has done really well. Not just with me. With anybody. When anyone goes through a rough stretch, everyone’s always there to pick them up and be like, ‘Hey, you’ve got some big ones coming. Don’t worry’.”
Max Muncy told @DMAC_LA he’s grateful the Dodgers believed in him through his early 2025 struggles:
“It means everything to know you have the support of your coaching staff, your front office,your teammates and just seeing those guys every day trying to back you up.” pic.twitter.com/0tGGwkSPOn
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) June 6, 2025
Muncy revealed he was not seriously concerned with his performance during his slump in the opening month and a half of the season. He knew he was still making hard contact on the ball, and the results were bound to turn in his favor at some point.
“It’s baseball. It’s bound to happen,” Muncy said. “Mine just happened to come right at the start of the season, which is probably the worst time you can have it. You don’t have anything to back you up, and you’re really working from scratch.”
“But I was hitting the ball hard. And that was the positive sign I kept taking,” he added. “When I was making contact, I was hitting the ball hard. Just not getting the best results out of it.”
“If I wasn’t hitting the ball hard, then we’ve got to start worrying about changing everything. For me, knowing that there was still hard contact there, I was building on that. It was able to get me where I’m at right now.”
At the moment, Muncy has a .221/.342/.416 slash line for the season with nine home runs, 35 RBIs, and an OPS of .758. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are on top of the National League standings with a 38-26 record.