ATLANTA — Max Muncy has a brand new look.
And, he hopes, barely higher sight.
On Friday night time at Truist Park, Muncy took the sector for the Dodgers’ collection opener towards the Atlanta Braves sporting clear prescription eyeglasses. He subtly did the identical throughout the Dodgers’ final recreation of the newest homestand on Wednesday afternoon, utilizing sun shades with prescription lenses when he hit his first residence run of the season.
It’s not that Muncy has unhealthy eyesight. His imaginative and prescient, he mentioned, is definitely a superb 20/12.
Nonetheless, Muncy did study he has astigmatism in his proper eye, making him barely left-eye dominant. On condition that he’s a left-handed hitter — positioning him along with his proper eye ahead within the batter’s field — he thus determined the glasses have been price a attempt.
“If there’s anything that can help out a little bit,” Muncy mentioned, “I’ll try it.”
Primarily based on his outcomes from Wednesday, the advantages might need already been felt.
After enduring a career-long 28-game residence run drought to start out the season, Muncy went deep in his first at-bat Wednesday, launching a low-and-away sinker to straightaway middle discipline.
He struck out in his subsequent journey to the plate, then flied to left within the fifth inning. After that, nevertheless, he tripled and drew a stroll, giving him his most efficient efficiency of what had been a sluggish begin to the season.
Granted, Muncy’s efficiency had began to tick up earlier than he began utilizing his new glasses.
Because of some latest swing changes, he entered Wednesday with three hits in his earlier two video games (he’d recorded simply 4 within the 11 earlier than that) and as many walks as strikeouts in his prior 13 contests general (10 every).
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy wore sun shades with prescription lenses throughout Wednesday’s recreation towards the Marlins, and hit his first residence run of the season.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Occasions)
“The swing feels like it’s getting closer and closer,” mentioned Muncy, who entered Friday with a .194 batting common on the season. “I still have to clean some things up. Have to be better in certain situations. It’s a work in progress. But … it’s just getting the ball to go forward.”
Nonetheless, in latest days, Muncy determined it was time to interrupt out the glasses, too.
The 34-year-old third baseman had been testing his glasses in pregame batting observe and infield drills for the reason that begin of final week’s homestand. He’d initially been hesitant to take them into recreation motion, noting a “fish-bowl” impact he felt whereas sporting them, however mentioned he has since adjusted by utilizing them even when he’s away from the sector.
Muncy isn’t the primary Dodger participant to start using glasses midseason.
Final 12 months, Kiké Hernández did the identical factor after discovering astigmatism (a situation brought on by imperfections within the curvature of the attention that may impression imaginative and prescient) in his personal proper eye.
Like Muncy, Hernández described an adjustment interval when his glasses arrived midseason.
“It took me like a week or two to really feel like my depth perception felt normal,” Hernández recalled.
In contrast to Muncy, Hernández started sporting them in video games as quickly as they arrived.
“You can’t be afraid to fail,” he quipped.
Fail, Hernández didn’t. Earlier than final 12 months’s All-Star break, Hernández was batting .191 with simply 5 residence runs in 71 video games, sporting glasses for under the ultimate collection of the opening half. After the break, as soon as his eyesight adjusted to his new lenses, Hernández completed the 12 months batting .274 with seven residence runs in his last 55 video games. He then proceeded to have a monster postseason (.294 common, two residence runs, six RBIs) throughout the Dodgers’ run to a World Collection title.
This 12 months, the glasses have remained a fixture. And although he batted simply .188 in March and April, he did tally 5 residence runs and 13 RBIs.
The largest profit Hernández seen from his glasses: A capability to see the precise spin on the baseball, and extra simply determine every pitch kind.
“Before the glasses, I was trying to see the shape of each pitch,” Hernández mentioned, which pressured him to attend a split-second to see if the ball would dive or slide away from its beginning location.
“Once I got the glasses,” he added, “I could actually see the spin.”
