It’s been a rough go of it for Max Muncy since the All-Star break. One of the Dodgers’ unsung heroes is hitting just .189/.279/.415 with an eye-popping 37.7 strikeout rate. This, after he hit .271/.409/.604 in the first half.

Before we go to far, let me just say this clearly and with no equivocation:

MAX MUNCY PARTICIPATING IN THE HOME RUN DERBY HAS NOTHING, ZERO, NADA TO DO WITH HIS RECENT STRUGGLES.

There, that’s better.

Muncy’s struggles can be traced back to a number of things, but the thing that stands out most is the fact he’s chasing.