Dodgers All-Star Quietly Emerging As LA’s Postseason ‘X-Factor’

The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of the best teams in all of baseball, and they’re getting healthy at the perfect time.

With the Dodgers seeing their best players return from injury, they’re ramping up for another potential World Series run.

FanSided’s Zachary Rotman recently suggested that slugger Max Muncy would be the Dodgers’ X-factor down the stretch and into the postseason.

“All eyes with the Los Angeles Dodgers are on the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez, and for good reason. But can we talk for a minute about how good Max Muncy has been?” Rotman wrote. “He’s slashing .258/.389/.491 with 17 home runs and 64 RBI on the year, and to take things one step forward, he’s been even better since addressing some vision issues back on April 30.

“Yes, there are questions revolving around this Dodgers’ pitching staff, but if Muncy is performing like this in October in a lineup that already has the most star power in the sport, Los Angeles might be a lock to repeat as World Series champions.”

The Dodgers know what they’re going to get from their loaded starting rotation. They know what they’re going to get from the likes of Ohtani, Hernandez, Smith, and the other stars in their lineup.

But it’s unclear whether Muncy will return from his injury in his best form. If he can be the same .880 OPS player that he’s been for most of the season, the Dodgers will be very hard to knock out of the postseason.

He’s the X-factor in Los Angeles. He might not win the National League MVP, NLCS MVP, or World Series MVP, but the season might hinge on his production.

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