The Dodgers’ regular-season numbers against playoff-caliber teams might look shaky on paper, but Max Muncy isn’t giving them much weight now that October is here.
Los Angeles finished the year 38-37 against teams with winning records, and over its final 16 matchups against clubs that made this postseason field, the Dodgers went 2-14. Even with the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye after clinching the National League West for the 14th straight season, that kind of stretch could raise eyebrows. Muncy’s answer was simple: none of it carries over.
“It doesn’t matter,” Max Muncy said. “In ’22, we beat the Padres, like, 16 times in the regular season, and they beat us in the postseason.
It just doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter.
“You see it every single year where there’s a team that really struggled against another team, and then they go out there and kind of just take it to them in the postseason. That’s why it really doesn’t matter.
“I know there’s things you look at on paper where you say this is a good matchup. But in October, it really doesn’t matter.”
The Dodgers are waiting on the winner of Game 3 between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card Series. For Muncy, though, the identity of the opponent matters less than the timing of the run. He said the postseason is too volatile to predict with regular-season results.
“Every team has the ability to (win the World Series),” Muncy explained. “That’s the one thing that I’ve noticed over the years, it all comes down to who’s going to play good baseball, who gets hot, who’s going to have the pitching, who’s going get one hitter that gets really, really hot. There’s not really any proper way to guess it.
“Obviously, when you look on paper, there are certain teams you think are better than others, but you kind of throw that all out the window when it comes to the postseason. Any team can go out there and win. That’s why it’s such a fun time to play in October.”
Part of the Dodgers’ uneven showing against playoff teams came during a season when injuries piled up and slowed them down. But they started to get healthier in the final month, and the results followed. Los Angeles went 18-7 in September, a strong finish that gave the club some momentum heading into the Division Series.
Muncy also pointed to experience as a major reason the Dodgers have been able to steady themselves. He recently said the team’s ability to absorb adversity has been a big part of its turnaround, and he считает that veteran presence is the most important ingredient for postseason success.
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