Dodgers: Should Max Muncy have a spot on the Opening Day roster?

Spring Training may only be a week into play but Max Muncy has already inserted his name into the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Opening Day roster talks.

Forty active roster spots are granted to MLB teams for free agency. Those 40 spots go hand-in-hand with the 40-man roster teams are allocated. Twenty-five of the 40 will be on the big league roster, the other 15 can be called up at any time. These are the guys with a shot at the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Opening Day roster. Max Muncy is not one of those guys.

Alongside the 40 players on the active and 40-man roster are “non-roster invitees”. These invited players often consist of promising prospects or minor league veterans that the Dodgers want to give playing time to. The Dodgers have 23 non-roster invitees this spring. Max Muncy is one of them.

Third baseman Max Muncy has had an interesting professional baseball career with little MLB experience. A fifth-round draft pick, Muncy has thrived in the minor leagues yet has only made two brief MLB stints — a 45-game run in 2015 and a 51-game run in 2016, both with the Oakland Athletics.

A .195 batting average led to Muncy’s eventual release, which in turn netted him a minor-league deal with the Dodgers in 2017. Muncy hit .309 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs in 109 games as the Oklahoma City Dodgers’ primary third baseman.

A journeyman.

Muncy is 27 years old, a bit past the average age for an MLB rookie. NL Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger was 22 years old his rookie season. 2016 NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager was also 22.

However, those two are outliers on the Dodgers’ odd assortment of journeymen and breakout players. Justin Turner did not enjoy his first big role until he was 30. Rich Hill finally found his MLB groove at 36. Breakout star Chris Taylor was 26 last season with little to no MLB success under his belt. The Los Angeles Dodgers are not like your everyday MLB team.

And that is what makes Max Muncy so perfect.

Muncy will not have a starting role with the Los Angeles Dodgers, that is inevitable. Turner has third base locked down barring injury. Even if anything does happen to Turner, Seager and Logan Forsythe can fill in with Taylor moving to shortstop or second.

What Muncy does possess though is versatility, something the Dodgers absolutely love. Enrique Hernandez is versatile, as is Taylor, Forsythe and even Bellinger. Catcher Austin Barnes doubles as a second baseman, Chase Utley added third and first base to his resume in LA.

Muncy only adds to this versatile culture. In 82 fielding appearances while in the MLB, Muncy fielded five different positions. Muncy played both corner outfield and infield positions alongside second base.

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The left-handed hitting Muncy is the perfect bat to add to the roster as well. Forsythe struggles against right-handed pitching and Utley is not much better in his later years. Muncy adds another left-handed bat to throw into the mix on primarily consisting of right-handers.

Despite not being on the active or 40-man roster, Muncy is making the most of his chances. The 27-year-old is four for 12 with an RBI. The sample size is minuscule, I get that, but his minor league efforts and production are not. Evidence is certainly there, now all the Dodgers have to do is run with it.

This is not an over-exaggeration of Spring Training games. And yes, it is going to be hard to get Muncy into a lineup with only 25 players. However, circling back to the original question, should Max Muncy have a spot on the Opening Day roster?

Next: 20 bold predictions for the 2018 Dodgers

Absolutely.