Dodgers Interview: Maxwell hopes to be swinging the silver hammer on Tuesday
LOS ANGELES — After nursing an injury all weekend. Max Muncy sounded like a guy ready to go. The weekend off helped, he said, and he expects to be in the lineup on Tuesday.
“I feel good. I’m hoping to be in there tomorrow. It’s not my choice. I don’t make the lineup, but the weekend was a good chance to let the body reset and work on a couple things. That’s where we’re at.” He didn’t hide that the last stretch has come with bumps. “There’s been a lot of issues from when I came back. A lot of hit by pitches. A lot of lingering effects and trying to get things cleared out. Mentally too.” The oblique that once hovered as a concern is not part of this picture. “The oblique is completely separate.” The bottom line is simple. “I’ll be ready for tomorrow. I’m taking BP today and doing everything today. I’ll be ready.”
Pressure comes with the Dodger uniform. Muncy did not pretend otherwise. “The pressure is always going to be there, especially when you’re the Los Angeles Dodgers. There are a lot of expectations. The challenge is not letting that pressure get to you and finding our rhythm, finding what’s going to work for us this year.” The calendar changes the task. “Each year the team has to find their identity when they get to this point. You have an identity during the regular season and then you have to find another identity in the postseason.”
The way this format starts might actually help. “The past several years we had those five days off. Last year we conquered it. Before that we struggled to find our identity going into the first couple games. This year we’re getting thrown right into the fire, so we have to find that identity really quick. I trust everyone in this clubhouse. I don’t think we’ll struggle to find it.”
The recent run has been a useful preview. “Maybe the last couple weeks were a starting point. The team was playing really well. Things started to fire on all cylinders a little bit. We were getting complete games from the team. The bullpen was amazing. The starters were amazing, even if they weren’t out there six or seven. Starters got their work in. The bullpen did an amazing job. Offense and defense were really good. It finally felt like firing on all cylinders, something we hadn’t really felt all year.”
Asked if this was a simple case of flipping a switch, Muncy kept it honest. “You would hope to flip that switch earlier instead of in the middle of a series. We’ve dealt with that in the past against a team that already went through a Wild Card. It’s tough to do. Hopefully we flipped it in the last week or two and can carry it into the series.” As for the 15 wins in 20 games, he shrugged at easy answers. “It’s baseball. I don’t know the answer. It’s a long season. We haven’t felt like we’ve been clicking all year. Maybe the last couple weeks we finally got into that groove. That’s a good sign.”
He also put the season in perspective. “It’s been a long year. Seven months ago we were on the other side of the world. We’ve been through a lot. We’re in a great spot. We’re in the postseason. That’s all that matters. Anything can happen once you’re in October.”
Preparation is the focus now. Identity too. “Just because of who we are doesn’t mean we’re going to win a series. We have to perform. We have to practice, prepare the right way, and understand what we need to do against the Reds.” Then the reminder every veteran makes in October. “This is one of the few moments in a season where your opponent actually does matter. But we’re still playing ourselves as much as the other team. We have to do everything the right way.”
That is the voice of a player who has seen both sides of October. Healthy enough to go. Honest about the grind. Clear on what it takes to win now.
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