Max Muncy Benefitted From Familiarity During At-Bat Delay

Max Muncy added onto what’s been a remarkable turnaround this season with a grand slam that helped propel the Los Angeles Dodgers to a comeback victory and series win against the Washington Nationals.

Michael Soroka had his way with the Dodgers through five innings but saw his afternoon come to an end with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning. The Nationals elected to turn to Jose A. Ferrer, who was making back-to-back appearances and his fourth in five days.

Ferrer threw three pitches to Muncy before requesting that the Dodger Stadium grounds crew work on fixing the landing area of the mound. It took several minutes, which added to the tension of Muncy’s at-bat.

He fouled off the first pitch after the delay, then lined a sinker out to left-center field for a go-ahead grand slam.

“I’d faced him [Saturday] night, so I kind of had an idea of what his stuff was,” Muncy began when asked what kind of dynamic the delay added to the pivotal moment.

“If I hadn’t faced him before, it might’ve been a little bit tougher because you’re sitting there thinking about what the pitches are like, what he might throw, what he might not throw. So for me, it was kind of just, catch your breath, and when he’s ready, he’s ready. Let’s get a good swing off.”

The grand slam was Muncy’s seventh of his career and gave him 200 home runs with the Dodgers. Overall, Muncy has slugged 205 homers in his career.

It also opened the floodgates for the Dodgers as they scored seven runs in the seventh inning and cruised to a win. Muncy later hit a second home run as well.

“Confidence is high right now, I feel good in the box, feel really good with my mechanics and I’m seeing the ball well,” he said. “Every single day it’s just trying to take it one pitch at a time and not trying to do too much. Just have good at-bats and understand what the situation is calling for. I’ve been sticking to that.”

Max Muncy believes delay was a first

Although Muncy could recall having previously seen a teammate having an at-bat paused while a pitcher asked for the mound to be worked on, it likely was a first while he was hitting.

“I don’t know if I’ve been a part of it, but I’ve definitely seen it before,” he said. “Day games are always tough anywhere you play. The field dries out, it gets really hard, and for the pitcher’s mound, if the starter is creating a big hole, especially for a lefty coming in, you’re stepping in different spots.

“I’ve seen that happen a lot. I don’t know if I’ve ever actually been a part of it.”