How Max Muncy, vying for third All-Star selection,

As Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy moved fluidly through a chopper at the sting of Camelback Ranch’s infield grass and made a working throw to first, his offseason work began to snap into place.

He wasn’t considering about the angle he took to the ball, or how to get into the fitting place to throw — or something, actually. He was just transferring instinctively.

“That’s how I like to field it in my work, is not necessarily traditionally,” Muncy told The Times on Thursday. “I like to field it one-handed, sometimes off the wrong foot, sometimes off balance, and that’s what works for me really, really well. I just couldn’t get that into the game. And finally getting those first couple of balls [this spring] to go that way just made everything click in my head and gave me the freedom to know that I can do it when it matters.”

Muncy has put together an spectacular all-around first half. His .873 OPS through Thursday leads NL third basemen. He’s on tempo for his highest slugging proportion (.513) in 5 years. But he’s most proud of the work he’s put in on the defensive aspect.

“I felt like I would show flashes of this, but never the consistency,” Muncy said. “And so to be able to just do it on the consistent daily basis that I’ve been doing this year, that’s easily what I’m most proud of.”

Now, with that well-rounded physique of work, he’s in place to declare the third All-Star choice of his profession and first since 2021.

Muncy entered Stage 2 of All-Star fan voting this week as the favourite to declare the beginning nod at third base, up against fellow finalist Alec Bohm. But voting totals reset, including some unpredictability to the method. The All-Star starters are set to be revealed Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on Fox.

“In total, the player, the defense, the hitting, the slugging, I think this is the best version of Max,” supervisor Dave Roberts said. “I’m so happy that he’s leading the All-Star voting.”

Not only is this shaping up to be Muncy’s best offensive season since 2021, it’s the best defensive season of his profession, regardless of place.

Entering this weekend’s collection against the Padres, he had a fielding run worth of plus-five runs, tied with the Giants’ Matt Chapman for the very best mark among third basemen, according to Statcast.

“He’s always been a hitter,” first-base/infield coach Chris Woodward said. “And I think he took it upon himself to say, ‘I’m going to prove to everybody that I’m a really good defensive player,’ which he has been in his time here, but he’s just never had the opportunity to play one position.”

Though Muncy is in his eleventh major-league season, and has performed all around the infield for most of it, 2022 marked his first season making the bulk of his appearances at third base. And 2023 was his first season transferring there full time.

He was also restricted by accidents in that span. For years, he still felt the results of the elbow injury he suffered toward the end of 2021. And he strained his proper indirect in each of the last two seasons.

“Third base was just a new position for me, and it just took time to learn it,” Muncy said. “And so just trying to get my work to translate into the game is a tough thing to do, and that’s kind of the secret to every aspect of baseball.”

Each infield place is exclusive, with its own quirks in footwork, angles and timing. Each has performs — like a slow-roller up the third baseline that requires a fast throw across the diamond — that no other place will encounter.

“When a righty gets around the ball, it comes off the bat a lot different than when a lefty gets around the ball,” Muncy said. “And it’s weird how that works, and it’s hard to explain, but that’s just the way it is.”

For a lot of Muncy’s baseball life he performed on the fitting aspect of the infield, fielding pull-side contact from left-handed hitters and opposite-field contact from right-handed hitters. That was second nature.

“You have to completely flip that,” Muncy said of taking part in third base, “and understand which way it’s going to bounce, how it’s going to bounce, how it’s going to get to you. It just took years of experience to finally get to that point.”

Woodward has always been impressed by Muncy’s agility, shocked when the Dodgers first promoted him in 2018 (as he returned to the big leagues for the first time since being launched by the A’s the earlier spring) and by how he moved at second base, despite an atypical construct for a center infielder.

Now, after an offseason with a new diet and training program, he could have leveled up that half of his recreation — even at 35 years outdated.

“In the past it was a good first step, and he couldn’t sustain his speed,” Woodward said. “And this year I think he can sustain the speed through the ball.”

Said Muncy: “I’m still beating the age curve for now.”

Woodward also famous how good Muncy is at staying on top of the mental aspect of the sport, figuring out how particular pitches to different sorts of hitters ought to change his positioning. That, along with common communication, are some of the small print that make the Dodgers infield appear to be it’s transferring as a unit — or, as Woodward put it, an “NFL defense” because of the best way they swarm to the ball.

The Dodgers’ infield protection as a entire has improved even from last season (No. 6 in fielding run worth) to sit in the No. 3 spot in the majors (plus-17 runs) a little past the midway level of the season.

Muncy unlocking even more potential in the new nook is a big half of the Dodgers raising their defensive ceiling. That’s helped the Dodgers, who own the best report in the majors, create separation in the standings. But it’ll be even more very important in the postseason, when the margin for error is at its thinnest.

In All-Star voting, protection received’t be the figuring out issue. Muncy’s elevated energy at the plate is the far flashier side of his case to start the Midsummer Classic. But a well-rounded resume doesn’t harm.

Muncy can image it: his three youngsters — Sophie Kate, who turns 5 this month, Wyatt James, 3, and Macie Grace, who was born in January — taking in All-Star weekend in Philadelphia, watching their dad signify the National League.

“Being able to have my kids experience the whole ordeal with me would mean everything to me,” Muncy said. “My oldest is kind of old enough now to remember these types of things, and so I think it’d be really special to just share that moment with them.”