LOS ANGELES — DodgerFest last Saturday made the whole thing feel real again. And Max Muncy, whom we last saw celebrating his third ring, showed up at Chavez Ravine with that same mix you always get from him: grateful for what just happened, honest about what still needs work, and ready to get back into the grind.
“It’s been crazy, hectic, definitely feels short,” Muncy said. “Been a lot going on with the family, and I’ve loved it. I’ve loved every second of it. But I’m also ready to get going again. It’s exciting time here, and I’m really looking forward to getting out to spring.”
A big part of his winter, he admitted, was simply trying to set himself up to feel better than he did at points last season, when that side issue lingered. “I feel great right now,” Muncy said. “I feel in as good a spot as I’ve ever been in. I’m going to be coming into camp the lightest I’ve ever come into, and so I just feel like I’m in a really good spot.” He said he’s spent time digging into the root of it, trying to keep it from becoming a recurring thing. “I’ve tried to do a lot of things to look into the side issues. I’m just trying to decompress my spine as much as possible,” he said. “Trying to do little things to help it out in the long run. I’m hoping it pays off, but we’ll see.”
When he explained it, it sounded less like some magic fix and more like a steady routine he’s committed to sticking with. “Just a lot of decompression stuff,” Muncy said. “Trying to lengthen the spine as much as possible, trying to take weight off of it as much as possible.” He even tied it back to the way his body works and the way he plays. “With the way I have a shorter torso, I create a lot of stress,” he said. “And obviously I don’t swing very soft. So just trying to take as much stress off the side as possible.”
With the exit of Clayton Kershaw, Muncy was asked about being one of the longer-tenured guys now. He didn’t claim the “leader” label like it’s a job title. “It’s weird for me,” he said. “I’ve never thought of myself as that guy.” Still, he knows what the standard is, and he knows what he can control. “I’ve always just tried to do the same thing,” Muncy said. “Go out there every single day and try to get my work in, be as best as possible, and try to compete as hard as I possibly can. I’ve never tried to take a day off.”
Part of what keeps that edge, he said, is the way Dodgers fans travel. He made it sound like the kind of thing you don’t fully understand until you’re wearing the uniform. “Ever since I first got here, when we would go on the road, we’d sell out every game,” Muncy said. “We were in the World Series, but fans still treated us like we were back-to-back World Series champions back then. And now that we actually are, it’s just going to be even that much more crazy.” He didn’t hesitate when he talked about the crowd. “Our fans have always been amazing. They’ve always been the best in baseball,” Muncy said. “They make it really fun throughout the course of 162 games to know that everywhere we go, we’re going to have a huge group backing us.”
He even gave the most relatable example possible, the kind every player understands by the time the summer starts dragging. “It makes it that much easier to get up for some of those games when it’s a Tuesday in July and it’s really hot,” Muncy said. “You’re maybe in a city you don’t want to be in, but you have a whole bunch of fans that cheer you on. It helps you get going.”
Muncy also talked about why the Dodgers keep feeling like a destination around the league. “Anytime teams come in, they always ask what’s it like to play here every single night,” he said. “You have to tell them it’s awesome. There’s nothing else like it. There’s nothing else in baseball like playing here every single night.”
And now the target is even bigger. Muncy didn’t complain about that part. He basically smiled at it. “We’ve always had that target, and it’s just going to be even bigger now,” he said. “It’s a challenge, but it’s something you get to look forward to. You get to embrace it. It’s what makes it fun.” He acknowledged what fans repeat all the time. “You’ve heard guys say being a Dodger is not for everybody,” Muncy said. “You have to want to be out there and get everyone’s best every single night.”
When the front office keeps adding, it hits the room in a pretty simple way. “Everything starts from the top down,” Muncy said. “Ownership group down to front office to the coaches to the players. It’s always been about winning.” He said that message never changes. “It’s never been about being compromised,” Muncy said. “It’s always how can we get better?” And when that continues after a title, players notice. “It sends a message to the players, we’re here to win,” he said. “It’s not, we won one, we’re good now. We want to keep winning.”
There was a quieter moment near the end, when Muncy looked back at how unlikely his own road has been. “For me, my personal journey, it’s something I never would have ever dreamed of,” he said. “I was basically out of baseball for a little bit and now here I am, most tenured player on the team.” He paused on that, because it still doesn’t sound normal. “I never would have imagined that in my life,” Muncy said. “It’s something that I’m very blessed to have had and I don’t take it for granted. I try to enjoy every second I get here.”
And DodgerFest, with the crowd pressed up near the stage and spring training staring everybody in the face, did what it always does. “It’s always great. This is always a really fun event,” Muncy said. “You start seeing how excited the fans are. This gets you in the right mindset knowing we’re really close to spring training.” He nodded like he could already feel the bags being packed. “When you come to this event and you see the fans out here, it really gets you in the right mindset,” Muncy said. “We’re getting ready to start soon. It gets you excited.”
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