GLENDALE, Ariz. — The new two-year, $24 million contract Max Muncy signed with the Dodgers last fall was probably below market for a two-time All-Star who has hit at least 35 home runs in four of the past five seasons.
But Muncy doesn’t want to find a new home. That might have meant sacrificing a little salary – and it definitely meant having to go to work this winter.
“I’ve been very open about how I want to stay here for the rest of my career,” Muncy said Saturday. “And let’s be real – there’s not really a DH spot anymore (with Shohei Ohtani signed for 10 years). So if I want to play here, I need to make sure I’m in the field, and the best way to do that is just put myself in a good spot.”
Third base was not a very good spot for Muncy last year.
After moving between first, second and third base – and DH – for his first five seasons with the Dodgers, Muncy has played third base almost exclusively the past two seasons.
But last season, Muncy was one of the poorest defenders in the majors at the position. He ranked well below average in most defensive metrics. His 16 errors were second among all third basemen behind Boston’s Rafael Devers (19 in 27 more games) and his .944 fielding percentage was the lowest among players who played at least 45 games at third base last season.
“I just look at why (his defense rated so poorly),” Muncy said. “For me, there’s a lot of balls where I put myself in a bad position. … I know that’s not the defender that I am. It was just kind of a snowball effect from the beginning last year. (You) make a couple bad plays, and that kind of sticks with you and then it gets in your head that, when the ball gets hit, actually you’re expecting something bad to happen, when in reality I was the one creating the bad things that were going on.
“So you just try to clear that and you move on and you show up the next day ready to go. That’s what I’m doing right now.”
That started over the…
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