The word “underappreciated” is used so much in sports, and baseball is no exception. It’s synonymous with “underrated.” Well, the Dodgers might have a player who fits both while simultaneously being the best at his position in the entire sport.
Hello, Max Muncy.
Muncy, 35, is playing some of the best ball of his career on both sides and is establishing himself as the best third baseman in baseball. It’s a bit of a hot take when guys like Junior Caminero and Jose Ramirez exist, but when you look at the numbers, it isn’t as absurd a statement as it might initially appear to be.
Since 2018, here are Muncy’s rankings in the following offensive categories:
.358 OBP, 5th
.486 SLG, 6th
.253 ISO, 1st
.361 wOBA, 4th
134 wRC+, 4th
25.4 fWAR, 7th
He’s firmly entrenched as a Top 5-7 offensive third baseman since 2018. This is also counting the primes of guys like Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman and Anthony Rendon — all of whom have fallen off for different reasons over the last few years.
In 2026, Muncy is hitting .251/.356/.503 with 12 home runs and an MLB-best (among 3Bs) 143 wRC+. The 143 wRC+ would be the second-highest mark of his career (2018) if the season ended today. The advanced statistics think he should be performing even better than he already is this season, as he’s running a career-best average exit velocity of 91.7 MPH, an 18.4 Barrel% and has cleaned up the deficiencies against left-handed pitching, as his 134 wRC+ against southpaws is his best since, you guessed it, 2021 (157). Being able to hit lefties well was always and underrated part of Muncy’s game. Dave Roberts has to balance getting Muncy the occasional day off (usually against a tough lefty), but he’s making a push to play even more against them with his improvement over the last few years.
Muncy is one of two third baseman in MLB to rank within the Top 10 of FanGraphs’ Off and Def rating. The other? Mr. Ramirez, and Muncy clears J-Ram is both Off (9.6 to 5.7) and Def (5.2 to 2.7).
But baseball — third base, specifically — isn’t all about offense. It’s called the hot corner for a reason, and Muncy is putting together his best defensive campaign to date.
Muncy has a +6 defensive runs saved this season at third base. His career-high at third base is 8 DRS, and we’re just a third of the way through the 2026 season. He still trails a couple of the usual suspects when it comes to premium defensive third basemen in Matt Chapman and Ke’Bryan Hayes, but the defensive improvement has been noticeable on paper and with the eye test.
He’s becoming a more well-rounded player, which is weird for the human form of a rectangle. It coincides with his health. He’s on record saying this is the best he has felt since suffering the elbow injury on the final day of the 2021 season that cost him the playoffs and perhaps a deeper Dodger postseason run. In fact, his wRC+ numbers would lend credence to Muncy saying he finally feels fully recovered from that.
2022: 106
2023: 117
2024: 133
2025: 137
2026: 143
His 137 mark was the best among third basemen last year with 100 or more games played — even better than the perennially underrated Ramirez. The fact that Muncy is having his finest defensive campaign while hitting at almost 2018-level Muncy can only lead to one conclusion:
Max Muncy is the best third baseman in baseball.
