The Los Angeles Dodgers have shown this season they are ruthless when it comes to doing what is best for the organization.
Longtime Dodgers Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes were released last month after multi-year spells in Los Angeles. The Dodgers cited doing what was best for the team as the rationale for moving on.
If Los Angeles holds true to its word, third baseman Max Muncy may be the next to go as the trade deadline nears. While he had a strong game Wednesday night, it’s been a rough season overall.
“No one has needed more resilience this season than Muncy, who suffered through a woeful opening month on both sides of the ball and was beginning to feel the ire of a ruthlessly demanding fan base,” wrote Jack Martin for the Los Angeles Times.
Muncy got off to a slow start this season, hitting just .194 at the end of April and barely bumping it above the Mendoza line at the end of May by hitting .220. His average currently sits at .226, but he’s struggling to be consistently produce for the Dodgers.
Even though his bat is a step above what it was at the beginning of the season, his defense is still lackluster.
“He’s had to go through some adversities, and it certainly hasn’t been linear for him, whether it be the defense or the droughts offensively and kind of hearing noise from the outside,” Roberts told reporters. “But he’s built a nice hard shell in the sense of, just really trying to put his head down and keep the blinders on and trying to focus on whatever situation is at hand at the moment.”
As much as putting your head down and focusing on the moment is good for Muncy, the Dodgers can’t continue to trot him out to third base every day and just wait for him to improve.
There’s a reason Los Angeles is reportedly keeping an eye on Colorado Rockies infielder Ryan McMahon. The Dodgers know an upgrade is necessary to push for back-to-back World Series titles.
Time is ticking for Muncy to turn it around, and it seems as if the end of July is his deadline as well as the trade deadline.
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