The San Francisco Giants have a Max Muncy problem.
In his five plus seasons with the Dodgers, the infielder has established himself as Giants killer. In 291 plate appearances vs. SF, he’s hitting .272 with a 1.003 OPS, 23 HR, 12 doubles, 2 triples, 51 RBI and 50 runs scored. That ownage continued on Monday, when Muncy went yard twice and knocked in seven of the Dodgers’ nine runs.
Luckily, Muncy was out of the Dodgers’ lineup on Tuesday aside from a pinch hit, but they are going to need to change something up when they face him next, possibly as early as Wednesday.
Three-time World Series champ Jeremy Affeldt joined Tolbert & Copes on Tuesday afternoon, and offered some suggestions about how SF should approach Muncy.
“When I see him hit, they’re throwing him strikes,” Affeldt said on KNBR. “He wants to swing the bat against you, he wants to do that. Walk him. If it’s not going to hurt you, don’t give him a hittable pitch, or make it to where he’s chasing your pitch out of the zone.
“If you walk him, he might get frustrated or he might be like ‘no, they’re not walking me this time, I’m going to go get something,’ and make him get a little edgy. You’ve got to get him uncomfortable, however you need to do it, however you deem that that is. And I don’t know what the team’s like or don’t like anymore, I don’t know how this game does it. In my era we knew how to make a guy uncomfortable…I’d make you uncomfortable. It’s okay, it is okay to do that.”
To their credit, the Giants did walk Muncy the first time they faced him on Monday, but absolutely lived in the zone for the next three at-bats. You can’t walk Muncy every time, so Affeldt also suggested giving him a little scare.
“I watch these pitchers pitch and they’re scared to make people uncomfortable…I’m not saying to gotta ruin his career or take him out, I’m saying make him uncomfortable,” Affeldt concluded. “He’s obviously not worried about a lot of things and he’s very comfortable in that box. Somehow you’ve got to play the mind game. They’re not doing it and he’s making them pay for it.”
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