Max Muncy can see clearly now, which has helped to fuel his turnaround

Max Muncy has been a fixture for the Dodgers since 2018. His career has had its fair shares of peaks and valleys. When he’s on, he’s as good as anyone. When he’s not, he’s an albatross in the lineup.

For the first month or so of the season, Muncy looked like the latter. He was hitting a paltry .173/.292/.235 through 28 games with five extra base hits — all doubles. Something was clearly off. It didn’t seem like Muncy just “lost it,” because he was still making hard contact — when he made contact, that is. Then, he made a change.

“On Friday night at Truist Park, Muncy took the field for the Dodgers’ series opener against the Atlanta Braves wearing clear prescription eyeglasses. He subtly did the same during the Dodgers’ last game of the most recent homestand on Wednesday afternoon, using sunglasses with prescription lenses when he hit his first home run of the season.
It’s not that Muncy has bad eyesight. His vision, he said, is actually an excellent 20/12.
However, Muncy did learn he has astigmatism in his right eye, making him slightly left-eye dominant. Given that he’s a left-handed hitter — positioning him with his right eye forward in the batter’s box — he thus decided the glasses were worth a try.”

As a fellow glasses-wearer, I can’t imagine not having them — and I’m saying that as a dumb blogger, not a professional baseball player.

So, how has he fared before (April 27) and after getting his new specs?

Date	BA	OBP	SLG	wOBA	BB%	K%	Whiff
Before	.173	.292	.235	.251	13.5	34.4	29.3
After	.283	.405	.522	.400	16.8	17.3	22.7

That’s a stark difference. While the contact, slugging and exit velocities are all impressive, the fact that he’s running nearly a 1:1 walk-to-strikeout ratio is amazing. It has, easily, been the biggest improvement Muncy has made since getting glasses and is driving his surge.

He also, reportedly, made some subtle swing changes that, coincidentally, occurred at roughly the same time as the glasses.

Date	LA	AA	SL	AD	Tilt	IAA%
Before	15	19	7.1	4 PULL	35	44.0
After	21	17	7.0	5 PULL	35	49.0

Key: LA = Launch Angle (degrees); AA = Attack Angle (degrees); SL = Swing Length (feet); AD = Attack Direction (degrees); Tilt = Swing Path Tilt (degrees); IAA = Ideal Attack Angle%

The biggest changes are his launch angle and ideal attack angle — both of which correlate. He’s shortened his swing ever so slightly and lowered the attack angle to help improve his ideal attack angle. That has led to an increased ground ball rate, but also an increased fly ball rate at the expense of line drives.

Muncy’s 33.5 GB% would be his highest since 2021 (38.1%), while his 44.1 FB% would be his lowest since that same ’21 season. For kicks, his 22.4 LD% would be the 2nd-highest of his career (23.5% in 2019). The 2021 season was his 2nd-best season as a Dodger (.249/.368/.527, 139 wRC+), so if he’s trying to be more like that Max Muncy, then that’s not a bad thing.

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There was some thought early on that this might be Muncy’s last year with the team, despite having a relatively cheap $10 million team option for 2026. There was talk of the Dodgers needed to upgrade third base, with someone like Nolan Arenado or Ryan McMahon. It even had some pining for the return of Miguel Vargas. The fact is, Muncy is better than all of those options (offensively, at least) and is helping to lengthen the Dodgers’ lineup with his production.

It remains to be seen if Muncy’s production is sustainable. His hot streak coincides with the glasses, but he was still a career .228/.352/.475 hitter coming into the season, so he’s playing above that level at present (though, not by much). Some regression should be expected. However, he has been a driving force in the Dodgers’ lineup since making the change — he’s one of four regulars (Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, Freddie Freeman) to have a .400 or better wOBA and is helping to make the Dodgers’ lineup the one that — on paper — looked like the best in the game.