There are plenty of subplots that have come to the forefront amid the Los Angeles Dodgers' run in the 2024 MLB playoffs. Their playoff record-tying consecutive shutout innings streak. The disparity in Shohei Ohtani's numbers with the bases empty and with runners on base. Kike Hernandez's October heroics. All of those have garnered plenty of attention throughout October. But one man has been very consistent for the Dodgers through it all and yet has flown more under the radar.
Max Muncy has had himself quite a playoff run thus far. Entering Game 3 of the Dodgers' NLCS clash against the New York Mets, Muncy is slashing .269/.424/.654 through eight playoff games to go along with three home runs and five runs batted in. He has been one of the beating hearts of the Dodgers lineup, and on Thursday night, he continued being a force on the plate and made history in the process.
In each of his first three plate appearances of Game 3, Muncy worked the count and earned himself a free trip to first base. By walking in his first three PAs, Muncy set a record for most consecutive postseason plate appearances reaching base with 11, as per Jeff Passan of ESPN.
This stretch dates back to Game 2 of the NLCS, when Muncy, in the bottom of the fifth inning of the Dodgers' 7-3 defeat, simply decided that the Mets won't be getting him out if he can help it. But even in the last out Muncy made, he had solid enough contact on a sinker, hitting a line out to center field. This just means that he's in a groove, and at the perfect time for the Dodgers as well.
In baseball, outs are a team's most important currency. They must not expend those unless they've built for themselves a nice lead. But for the Dodgers, they have the MLB's hottest hitter. And in a lineup with Ohtani in it, Muncy is doing incredible things to stand out the way he has over the past few games.
Max Muncy is a testament to how well run the Dodgers organization is
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The Dodgers have garnered plenty of attention over the past decade for being one of the most spendthrift organizations in the MLB. This is justified; after all, they gave Shohei Ohtani the biggest contract in the history of professional sports, showing how bottomless their pockets are.
But spending money, while correlated with winning, isn't a surefire way to build a sustainable contending team. The Dodgers' crosstown rival Los Angeles Angels prove this. It was imperative for the Dodgers to round out the roster with players who weren't valued in their previous organizations, and Max Muncy has been one of their biggest success stories in this regard.
Muncy has done nothing but be productive for the Dodgers ever since he burst onto the scene as an everyday player back in 2018. And from that point forward, he has been a crucial member of their postseason roster — warranting such a prominent role in a stacked lineup due to how productive he has been — especially since the fifth inning of Game 2 of the 2024 NLCS.
