Underrated Max Muncy is at the top of the Dodgers’ postseason homer list

LOS ANGELES – Max Muncy is not the Dodgers player many would guess as the franchise’s all-time leader in the postseason, but it all counts.

As the team’s longest-tenured player, Muncy shined for the Dodgers during a period of prosperity (with more postseason runs than ever before) that rivals or surpasses any in club history. On Saturday, in Game 2 of the World Series, he homered the 15th homer of his career in the postseason to extend his all-time lead for the Dodgers.

“Being at the top of anything in this organization is very difficult for me,” Muncy said Sunday before practice at Dodger Stadium. “It’s a really historically significant franchise, a lot of great players — Hall of Famers — have come out of this organization. Just to be able to top this class means a lot.”

Muncy, who has played for the Dodgers since 2018, had a solo home run during the NLCS that moved him ahead of Justin Turner and Corey Seager. Muncy played 74 postseason games for the Dodgers.

By comparison, Duke Snyder, who ranks fourth on the Dodgers’ all-time list with 11 homers, has played just 36 postseason games (all in the World Series).

In a lineup that includes Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, it might be easy to overlook Muncy, but that’s not recommended.

“Everyone is focused on the top of the lineup,” Muncy said. “But that’s where we’ve been able to win a lot of games, and it’s not necessarily the top that hurts us. It’s just the depth we have in the lineup.”

“That’s something I’ve always been proud to be a part of. Doc (Roberts) can attack me wherever he feels like it. I’m not a guy that has an ego there, and wherever he feels that helps the lineup do the best he puts me in it and I’m proud of that.”

Bo Bichette, who returned to the Blue Jays’ lineup for Game 1 of the World Series after missing seven weeks with a sprained left knee, will start again at second base on Monday, according to manager John Schneider. Bichette was on the bench for the second game.