LOS ANGELES – On Monday, Max Muncy will join Kenley Jansen, Ross Stripling, Matt Kemp, Manager Dave Roberts and the Dodgers’ coaching staff in Washington, D.C. with one purpose: hitting a bunch of home runs.
Muncy will face off against Javier Baez in the first round of the Home Run Derby at Nationals Park. Dodgers hitting coach Turner Ward will pitch to him. Once Ward has surrendered his final home run of the day, Muncy will pack his bags, fly home, and rest up for a few days before the Dodgers visit the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
“That’s when I’ll let everything crash over me,” said Muncy, whose 22 home runs lead the Dodgers and rank fourth in the National League.
One reporter jokingly asked Roberts if Muncy would try to work the count in his favor at the Derby. Before he was a slugger, Muncy was revered for his patience at the plate; he still is among the Dodgers’ leaders in pitches per plate appearance.
No, Roberts said, “he’s going to be like Nomar Garciaparra and swing at every first pitch.”
These days, Muncy is chasing different company. His current rate of 10.23 at-bats per home run would be the 25th-lowest all time – a shade behind Mickey Mantle’s 1956 season.
Among players with at least 200 plate appearances prior to an All-Star break, Muncy’s home run rate ranks 48th, according to Baseball Reference. A place in the Home Run Derby is an appropriate reward.
“That was something I watched growing up with my dad all the time,” Muncy said. “The last couple years, it’s something you watch with the guys in the clubhouse. A lot of times, because of the time difference you might be just finishing a game, or just starting a game, and the Derby’s coming on.”
Muncy gives the Dodgers a player in the Derby for the fifth consecutive season. He will become the 10th player (12 appearances) in team history to take part in the event, joining Steve Garvey (1985), Mike Piazza (1993-94), Raul Mondesi (1995), Hee-Seop Choi (2005), Matt Kemp (2011-12), Yasiel Puig (2014), Joc Pederson (2015), Corey Seager (2016) and Cody Bellinger (2017).
This year’s participants include Baez, Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman Jesús Aguilar, Kyle Schwarber Alex Bregman and Rhys Hoskins.
GIVE THE ALL-STAR A BREAK
Jansen pitched one inning in last year’s All-Star Game. He faced one batter in the 2016 game, Matt Wieters, and struck him out on three pitches.
This year?
“We’ve used him a lot … so he’ll get four days off,” Roberts said. “He’ll be ready to go Friday.”
Jansen’s one-inning save against the Angels on Sunday was his fourth appearance in the last five days. If he were not heading to Washington D.C., Jansen said he probably would not pick up a baseball between now and the Dodgers’ next game Friday in Milwaukee.
Now, he said, “I probably might pick up a ball on Tuesday just to get ready to pitch if Doc wants me to pitch in that game. I’m looking only to pitch if Doc wants me to in the All-Star Game.”
FUTURE OF THE WORLD
Yusniel Diaz, an outfielder at Double-A Tulsa, hit two home runs in the annual Futures Game in Washington. He finished 2 for 5 with three RBIs as the starting left fielder for the World Team.
Dodgers catcher Keibert Ruiz struck out in his only plate appearance in the game, which the World All-Stars lost to the United States 10-6. Ruiz also suffered an injury to his right hand; he told reporters after the game that subsequent X-rays were negative.
ALSO
For the first time, Roberts put a rough timetable on Julio Urías’ possible return to the major leagues: 4-6 weeks. The left-hander began facing batters in Arizona last week as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery in June 2017. …
Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill will pitch two of the Dodgers’ three games in Milwaukee after the All-Star break, but Roberts hasn’t announced which games, or who will start the third.
