PHOENIX — The three-
year, $26-million contract
Max Muncy signed with the
Dodgers in February changed
the slugger’s tax bracket, but
little else.
“I don’t live an extravagant
lifestyle,” the 29-year-old in-
fielder said. “I have a nice car,
but I didn’t go out and buy a
Ferrari or anything like that.
The only thing it does is guar-
antee my family to be set up
for the future.”
Muncy has established a
firm foothold in the big
leagues with two prolific of-
fensive seasons but still acts
and sounds like a guy battling
for a roster spot.
“You don’t ever want to
take anything for granted,”
said Muncy, who earned Na-
tional League most valuable
player votes in 2018 and 2019
and an All-Star selection in- “I don’t like to get com-
placent.
“If you get too comfortable
knowing you supposedly have
a spot on the team, you don’t
really get hungry for better
things. Part of that has to do
with where I came from, some
of the things I’ve gone
through.”
It was three years ago this
month that Muncy was re-
leased by the Oakland Athlet-
ics, who drafted him in the
fifth round out of Baylor in - Muncy showed a keen
eye and superb bat-to-ball
skills, but the power he
flashed in the low minors
dried up in double A and triple
A.
With budding star Matt
Chapman at third base and
left-handed slugger Matt Ol-
son emerging as the starter at
first, the A’s had little use for a
reserve corner infielder with
little pop and questionable
defensive skills.
Muncy spent the first
month of the 2017 season at
home in Keller, Texas, about
20 miles north of Fort Worth,
hitting in a cage with his fa-
ther. A text message from
then-Dodgers general man-
ager Farhan Zaidi, who knew
Muncy during their time to-
gether in Oakland, offered a
lifeline.
Muncy signed a minor
league contract with the Dod-
gers on April 28. He spent the
rest of that season at triple-A
Oklahoma City, refurbishing
his stance and his left-handed
swing in an effort to unlock his
power.
Two weeks into 2018 the
season, with the Dodgers in
need of a third baseman after
Justin Turner fractured his
wrist and Logan Forsythe in-
jured his shoulder, Muncy was
called up with little fanfare.
“Good defender at third,”
manager Dave Roberts said
at the time. “Third and first is
where he thrives. Really like
him in the batter’s box.”
Soon, a lot of observers
shared Roberts’ view. Muncy
hit a two-run homer in his first
start and quickly slugged hisway into the middle of the line-
up, hitting .271 with a 1.013 on-
base-plus-slugging percent-
age, 22 homers and 41 RBIs
before the All-Star break.
Muncy finished 2018 with a
.263 average, .973 OPS, 35 ho-
mers, 79 RBIs, 131 strikeouts
and 79 walks. He provided the
highlight of a World Series loss
to the Boston Red Sox with a
dramatic walk-off homer in
the 18th inning of Game 3 at
Dodger Stadium.
The hits kept coming in
2019, when Muncy batted .251
with an .889 OPS, 35 homers,
98 RBIs, 149 strikeouts and 90
walks while playing first, sec-
ond and third base.
“He always had an unbe-
lievable command of the
strike zone — that’s probably
why Oakland loved him, be-
cause they love those types of
players — but for whatever
reason, I think he hit a lot
more ground balls with Oak-
land,” Turner said.
“Whatever the swing ad-
justment was when he came
here, he started getting moreballs in the air and doing more
damage. But the beauty of it is
his command of the strike
zone hasn’t wavered a bit. He
still stays in the zone as good
as anybody. He takes his
walks and swings at strikes.”
Turner, 35, has a special
appreciation for Muncy’s me-
andering path. A fellow late
bloomer, Turner was waived
by Baltimore in 2010 and al-
lowed to walk as a free agent in
2015 after three unremarkable
seasons with the New York
Mets. He signed with the Dod-
gers in 2016 and became a star.
“Our careers are very simi-
lar,” Turner said. “He was kind
of floating around, trying to
make a team, he was up and
down with Oakland, gets let
go, comes over here, gets an
opportunity to play and has
obviously made the most of
it.”
Muncy is expected to split
time this season between first
base and second. He made
most of his 2019 starts in the
second, fifth and sixth spots
in the batting order, but Rob-
erts said he is leaning toward
keeping Muncy in the second
spot, behind new leadoff man
Mookie Betts and in front of
Turner and 2019 NL MVP
Cody Bellinger.
“He’s a guy you could hit
anywhere in the lineup,
really,” Turner said. “You
could hit him leadoff, with the
way he stays in the zone and
gets on base. You could hit
him in the middle of the order.
It doesn’t matter.”
Wherever Muncy plays in
the field, wherever he bats in
the order, the Dodgers are
confident he will be as moti-
vated as he was in 2017, when
he was scrambling for a job
with nowhere near as much
money in the bank.
He’s trying to soften the
front leg in his swing this
spring, which will allow him to
adjust to breaking balls bet-
ter. He’s constantly working
on his defensive footwork.
He’s determined to get better.
“He’s still got that chip on
his shoulder, he always will,”
Roberts said. “I think Max will
never forget being at home
watching baseball [in April
2017]. That feeling never
leaves you.”Success hasn’t changed Muncy
Dodgers slugger has a
big new contract but
the same old
blue-collar attitude.
By Mike DiGiovannaD2 THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS
Dodgers 4, San Francisco 0
AT THE PLATE:Justin Turner doubled over in pain after being
hit in the back of the left hand by a Johnny Cueto pitch in the
first, a scary sight for a third baseman who broke his left wrist
when he was hit by a pitch in the spring of 2018 and missed the
first six weeks of that season. Turner remained in the game and
hit a two-run homer in the third before departing in the fourth.
Turner said X-rays on the hand were negative.
ON THE MOUND: An interesting night for Clayton Kershaw
had nothing to do with his three scoreless innings, in which he
allowed two hits, struck out four, walked none and threw 43
pitches, 25 for strikes. After Turner was hit by a pitch in the
first, Kershaw hit Giants catcher Rob Brantly with a pitch in the
second. Giants third base coach Ron Wotus said something to
Kershaw after the half-inning, and umpire Tom Woodring
quickly stepped between the two before escorting Kershaw off
the field. “He was upset that I hit him,” Kershaw said of Wotus.
“That’s fine, it’s part of the game, he’s allowed to be upset. I
moved on from there.” Woodring then issued warnings to both
benches, a rarity for a spring training game. “There’s a first time
for everything,” Kershaw said. Pedro Baez, Joe Kelly and Scott
Alexander threw scoreless innings with two strikeouts, and
Brusdar Graterol struck out two in a scoreless ninth, his fastball
touching 99 mph.
EXTRA BASES:Cody Bellinger sat out his second straight
game because of a “knot” in his back, but manager Dave
Roberts said the slugger will return to the lineup Thursday.
UP NEXT:Right-hander Walker Buehler is scheduled to start
against Oakland right-hander Mike Fiers at HoHoKam Park in
Mesa, Ariz. TV: SportsNet LA, noon PST.
— Mike DiGiovannaTEMPE, Ariz. — The
stolen base is something of an
endangered species in base-
ball, much like artificial turf
and the doubleheader.
The stolen base is a casu-
alty of analytics. Unless your
success rate at stolen-base at-
tempts is very high — say 75%
— your chances of scoring a
run are better if you stay put
at first base and wait for a big
hit.
The Angels are running
often this spring, with 10
stolen bases in their first 12
Cactus League games.
When Charles Barkley
came through the Angels’
camp the other day, he said
one of the things he liked
about Angels manager Joe
Maddonwas that “we both
hate analytics.”
In truth, Maddon em-
braces analytics, but he does
so from the perspective of
someone who has spent a life-
time playing and coaching
baseball, not just analyzing it.
Running into outs on the
bases is dumb? Too simple,
Maddon argues. The threat of
running — even if you have to
run into an out or two to es-
tablish that threat — can be
worth it.
“Of course you don’t want
to make outs on the bases, but
there are times you have to be
assertive in order to get other
things that you want,” Mad-
don said. “When you’ve got a
pitcher coming into the
stretch, his concentration is
now split. Advantage, hitter.
Disadvantage, pitcher.
“The more we can do of
that, legitimately, and split his
concentration, that is going to
benefit us.”
The Angels will not run
blindly, but Maddon said they
are blessed with players who
have enough speed to run on
occasion. He cited regulars
Mike Trout, David
Fletcher, Justin Uptonand
Andrelton Simmons, as well
as prospects Jo Adell, Luis
Rengifo, Michael Hermosi-
llo, Taylor Wardand Bran-
don Marsh.
“You have to have guys
who can run,” Maddon said.
“You’re not just going to run
people. If you don’t have a
team that can run, you have to
put the big gloves on and duke
it out. If you can do those
things — if you’ve got a con-
tact team, guys that can run,
and guys that like to do it —
you can get this stuff done.“Sometimes, it’s just about
trying to make your team ag-
gressive again. There’s no way
for me to quantify this. I just
know that, if we’re not run-
ning and we’re not scoring
and we’re station to station —
dead — and then all of a sud-
den, you do that, even if the
guy gets thrown out, it picks
up the attitude in the dugout.
I’ve always been aware of that,
even as a third base coach.”
The book “Moneyball” fo-
cused on the 2002 Oakland
Athletics. The Angels won the
2002 World Series, with Mad-
don as bench coach.
“When we used to play
Oakland back in the day,
when ‘Moneyball’ was very
popular, prepping for them
was easier,” Maddon said.
“You didn’t have to do any-thing except worry about the
hitter. Everybody thought
that was a good thing. For me,
it made our pitching and de-
fense better.”Be like Mike
In the department of two-
word statements by super-
stars, the undisputed cham-
pion: “I’m back,” by Michael
Jordan.
As of Wednesday, this con-
tender: “I’m fine,” by Trout.
Trout was hit by two
pitches in Wednesday’s exhib-
ition game, the second time on
the knee. He left the game, al-
though he was scheduled to
come out of the game at that
point anyway.
Since he arguably is the
best player in baseball, the
world needed an update on hiscondition. So Trout provided
a statement to a team spokes-
man, who provided it to re-
porters.
“I’m fine,” Trout said.
Angels social media guru
Danny Farrisworked up a
big picture of Trout, with the
words “I’m fine. Mike Trout”
next to the picture, then
posted it on Twitter.
“Iconic,” Farris tweeted
above the picture.Slow Sho
Shohei Ohtanihas one
hit in 10 at-bats this spring,
with seven strikeouts.
“He’s got plenty of time,”
Maddon said. “I promise you
he is going to hit really well
this baseball season. For right
now, the timing is off just a lit-
tle bit.”PRO CALENDAR
THU FRI SAT SUN MON
5 6 7 8 9LAKERSMIL.
7:30
ESPN,
SpecSNat Clippers
12:30
Ch. 7CLIPPERSat Houston
5
TNT, PrimeLAKERS
12:30
Ch. 7CKINGSTORONTO
7:30
FSWMINNESOTA
1
FSWCOLORADO
7:30
FSWDUCKSTORONTO
7
PrimeMINNESOTA
6
PrimeGALAXYVAN.
7
SpecSNLAFCPHILA.
7:30
FS1Shade denotes home game
TIME EVENT ON THE AIR
BASEBALL EXHIBITIONS
10 a.m. N.Y. Yankees vs. Detroit at Lakeland, Fla. TV:MLB Network
Noon Dodgers vs. Oakland at Mesa, Ariz. TV:SNLA
3 p.m. St. Louis vs. Washington at West Palm Beach,
Fla.TV: MLB NetworkBASKETBALL
5 p.m. Clippers at Houston TV:Prime, TNT
R: 570
7:30 p.m. Toronto at Golden State TV:TNT
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
8 a.m. Women, ACC tournament, second round, Virginia
Tech vs. Wake ForestTV:Prime9 a.m. Women, Big Ten tournament, second round,
Purdue vs. Michigan StateTV:Big Ten9 a.m. Women, SEC tournament, second round, Georgia
vs. AlabamaTV:SEC11 a.m. Women, ACC tournament, second round, Virginia
vs. SyracuseTV:Prime11:30 a.m. Mountain West tournament, first round, San
Diego State vs. Air ForceTV:CBSSN11:30 a.m. Women, Big Ten tournament, second round,
Rutgers vs. WisconsinTV:Big Ten11 a.m. Women, SEC tournament, second round,
Arkansas vs. AuburnTV:SEC11:30 a.m. Women, Pac-12 tournament, first round,
California vs. Arizona StateTV:Pac-122 p.m. Mountain West tournament, second round, Boise
State vs. Nevada Las VegasTV:CBSSN2 p.m. Women, Pac-12 tournament, first round,
Washington vs. UtahTV:Pac-123 p.m. Women, SEC tournament, second round, Florida
vs. Louisiana StateTV:SEC3:30 p.m. Women, Big Ten tournament, second round,
Nebraska vs. MichiganTV:Big Ten3:30 p.m. Nebraska at Michigan TV:FS1
4 p.m. Illinois at Ohio State TV:ESPN
4 p.m. Houston at Connecticut TV:CBSSN
4 p.m. North Carolina A&T at North Carolina Central TV:ESPNU
5:30 p.m. Women, SEC tournament, second round,
Tennessee vs. MissouriTV:SEC5:30 p.m. Women, Texas at Baylor TV:FS1
6 p.m. Wichita State at Memphis TV:ESPN
6 p.m. Washington at Arizona State TV:ESPN2
6 p.m. Stanford at Oregon State TV:Pac-12
6 p.m. Mountain West tournament, first round, Utah
State vs. New MexicoTV:CBSSN6 p.m. West Coast tournament, first round, San Diego
vs. Loyola MarymountTV:SpecSN6 p.m. Women, Pac-12 tournament, first round,
Colorado vs. USCTV:Pac-12 LA6 p.m. Women, Big Ten tournament, second round, Ohio
State vs. MinnesotaTV:Big Ten7:30 p.m. Washington State at Arizona TV:FS1
8 p.m. California at Oregon TV:ESPN2
8:30 p.m. Women, Pac-12 tournament, first round,
Washington State vs. Oregon StateTV:Pac-12COLLEGE LACROSSE
4 p.m. Women, Louisville at North Carolina TV:ACC
GOLF
11 a.m. Arnold Palmer Invitational TV:Golf
11:30 p.m. Qatar Masters, second round TV:Golf
HOCKEY
4 p.m. Carolina at Philadelphia TV:NBCSN
7:30 p.m. Toronto at Kings TV:FSW R:iHeart
SOCCER
Noon French Cup, Saint-Etienne vs.Rennais TV:bein1, beinES
2 p.m. South America Cup, Merida FC vs. Racing TV:bein1, beinES
4 p.m. Women, SheBelieves Cup, U.S. vs. England TV:ESPN2
4 p.m. South America Cup, Binacional vs. Sao Paulo TV:bein1, beinES
6 p.m. South America Cup, Lima vs. Nacional Uruguay TV:beinES
TENNIS
9 a.m. Lyon and Monterrey tournaments, early rounds TV:Tennis
1 p.m. Monterrey Open, early-round play TV:Tennis
5 p.m. Monterrey Open, early-round play TV:TennisTODAY ON THE AIR
College Basketball
Favorite Line Underdog
Long Beach State 51 ⁄ 2 Cal Poly
at UC Santa Barbara 12 Cal State Fullerton
Loyola Marymount 2 San Diego
at New Mexico State 91 ⁄ 2 California Baptist
at Michigan 161 ⁄ 2 Nebraska
at Ohio State 61 ⁄ 2 Illinois
Houston 1 at Connecticut
at Memphis 11 ⁄ 2 Wichita State
at Montana 3 Northern Colorado
at Montana State PK Southern Utah
at Arizona State 6 Washington
at Oregon State PK Stanford
at Utah Valley 41 ⁄ 2 Missouri Kansas City
at Eastern Washington 12^1 ⁄ 2 Idaho State
Weber State 3 at Idaho
at UC Davis 21 ⁄ 2 Hawaii
at Seattle OFF Chicago State
at Portland State 5 Northern Arizona
at Arizona 16 Washington State
at Oregon 17 California
San Diego State OFF Air Force
at Nevada Las Vegas 21 ⁄ 2 Boise State
at Green Bay OFF Oakland
at Illinois Chicago OFF Youngstown State
Drake 21 ⁄ 2 Illinois State
Valparaiso 61 ⁄ 2 Evansville
Santa Clara 61 ⁄ 2 PortlandNHL
Favorite Underdog
Toronto -174 at KINGS +162
at N.Y. Rangers OFF Washington OFF
at Florida OFF Boston OFF
Pittsburgh -168 at Buffalo +158
at Philadelphia OFF Carolina OFF
at Tampa Bay -195 Montreal +180
N.Y. Islanders -156 at Ottawa +146
at Nashville -111 Dallas +101
at Chicago -111 Edmonton +101
Minnesota -114 at San Jose +104ODDS
Angels 2, Seattle 0
AT THE PLATE: Andrelton Simmons
scored the Angels’ first run when he
walked, stole second base, kept running
and stole third base because the Mariners
did not cover the base, then scored on a
double by Jason Castro. In 13 spring
at-bats, Castro has two hits: a double and a
home run, so he is batting .154 and
slugging .462.
ON THE MOUND: Dylan Bundy pitched
three shutout innings and Jaime Barria
added four. The two have combined for
161 ⁄ 3 innings this spring without giving up a
run. Bundy, in his first year with the
Angels, ought to be delighted not to have
to face them any more. His 7.15 earned-run
average against the Angels is his highest
against any American League team, with
Albert Pujols six for 12 off him (with four
home runs), Mike Trout five for 11, and
Simmons five for six. “I faced them a lot
and it didn’t end well very many times forme,” Bundy said. “And then we added
[Anthony] Rendon. So it’s going to be
pretty hectic out there from an offensive
standpoint.”EXTRA BASES: Pitcher Griffin Canning is
scheduled to get a second opinion on his
injured elbow Thursday, one week after an
MRI showed what the Angels called
“chronic changes” to his ulnar collateral
ligament, the one that — when torn —
generally is repaired via Tommy John
surgery. Manager Joe Maddon has said
doctors are looking beyond the ligament in
trying to determine the source of
Canning’s elbow discomfort.UP NEXT: The Angels are off Thursday. On
Friday, they will play split-squad games
against the Kansas City Royals, home and
away, with the home game broadcast at
noon PST on Fox Sports West and AM 830.
— Bill ShaikinTHE ANGELS’ Andrelton Simmons steals second base as the Seattle Mari-
ners’ Patrick Wisdom fields the late throw during an exhibition game.Matt YorkAssociated PressANGELS REPORTMaddon embraces ability to steal bases
By Bill Shaikin