By Don Wanlass
Contributing Writer
Max Muncy is rarely mentioned when the top hitters for the Dodgers are being discussed.
The Dodgers’ top three hitters are Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. Catcher Will Smith is the cleanup hitter and generally considered the fourth best hitter in the lineup. Muncy or outfielder Teoscar Hernandez usually hit fifth.
Muncy went on the injured list about three weeks ago with a strained oblique muscle. He suffered a setback in the recovery process last week.
Since he has been injured the Dodgers have gone 9-8, mostly due to a lack of clutch hitting. Through 62 games, the team is averaging 4.79 runs a game, but in the 17 games that Muncy has missed, the team has exceeded that average only five times.
The Dodgers have scored 10 or more runs in a game seven times this season, once since Muncy went on the injured list. Are you starting to see a trend?
The Dodgers signed Muncy has a free agent before the start of the 2018 season. He had spent parts of two seasons with the Oakland A’s, hitting .195 with 5 home runs and 17 runs batted in over 96 games.
Since becoming a Dodger, Muncy has become a valuable part of their lineup. In seven seasons, he has hit 184 home runs, while hitting at least 35 in a season four times.
Despite a .230 career batting average, Muncy drives in runs and draws walks while playing three different positions in the infield. He might strike out too much and he doesn’t cover a lot of ground defensively, but he still has been a vital part of the Dodgers for seven seasons.
Manager Dave Roberts is using a combination of Miguel Rojas, Kike Hernandez and Chris Taylor to replace Muncy at third base, but none of the three have done anything to win the job on a regular basis. For the season, Muncy was hitting .223 with 9 homers and 28 RBI. Combined Rojas, Hernandez and Taylor have accounted for 5 homers and 27 RBI and only Rojas is hitting higher than .200
The Dodgers’ offense will continue to struggle until Muncy returns because it shortens the batting order. With only five hitters — Betts, Ohtani, Freeman, Smith and Teoscar Hernandez — consistently driving in runs, the Dodgers are basically giving away four outs every time through the lineup.
Rojas has the best average of those hitting at the bottom of the order most of the time. He is hitting .267 in only 90 at bats. Second baseman Gavin Lux is hitting .210 in 157 at bats. Taylor is hitting .103 in 78 at bats. Outfielder James Outman was hitting .147 in 109 at bats before he was sent back to Oklahoma City for more seasoning.
Kike Hernandez is hitting .198 in 126 at bats, back-up catcher Austin Barnes is hitting .208 and outfielder Jason Heyward is hitting .229.
By failing to hit in the clutch, the Dodgers are wasting some good pitching, especially from new staff ace Tyler Glasnow. On June 4, the Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0. It was the fifth straight start for Glasnow that the Dodgers failed to score a run for him when he was in the game.
He was 6-1 on May 4. Thirty days later, he is 6-4 despite leading the Major Leagues in strikeouts and having an earned run average of 2.70.
Those gaping holes at the bottom of the lineup will get only worse in October when the quality of pitching improves during the playoffs. The Dodgers will definitely need to do something to strengthen their bench prior to the trade deadline at the end of July.
There is no need to panic no. Despite being 9-8 in their last 17 games, the Dodgers have only lost half a game from their lead in the National League West, which stands at seven games.
But for Dodger fans who like to fret about October, which is still four months away, the warning signs are already out there.
TOP CHOICE: It appears that JJ Redick is the leading candidate to become the next head coach of the Lakers.
Redick spent 15 years in the NBA, four with the Clippers (2013-2017), where he averaged 12.8 points game. During his career, he was known for his deadly outside shooting, retiring with a 41.5 percentage shooting three-point shots.
Since he retired, he has become a noted podcaster and is ESPN/ABC’s lead color analyst on NBA games. One of his podcasts is with LeBron James, which gives him a foot in the door in the Lakers’ search for a coach. James wants Redick to coach the Lakers and James usually gets what he wants.
Many are comparing Redick to Jason Kidd, who has coached the Dallas Mavericks into the NBA Finals this year against the Boston Celtics.
Both had long careers playing guard in the NBA, both were well respected by their peers, both have high basketball instincts.
Personally, I would prefer Kidd to Redick. He has head coaching experience, serving stints with the Nets and Bucks before going to the Mavericks for the 2021-22 season
The Lakers front office knows him because he was part of Frank Vogel’s coaching staff on the 2019-20 championship team.
But Kidd is under contract with the Mavericks and the Lakers don’t have the assets to acquire his services. (Milwaukee gave up two second-round draft picks to acquire him from the Nets in 2014.)
None of the other assistant coaches the Lakers are considering are head and shoulders above Redick as a potential coach.
Redick has said he won’t consider coaching opportunities until the playoffs have finished because of his commitment with ABC, so the Lakers coaching search will likely continue for another two weeks.
Once that is out of the way, Lakers fans can begin the Bronny James watch, the run-up to the NBA Draft when we can all find out how many other shots LeBron James is calling for the team.
