Former Keller player Max Muncy a man for all positions with A’s
Max Muncy’s willingness to play multiple positions isn’t a new development.
The Oakland Athletics’ infielder played just about everywhere at one point when he was leading the Keller High School Indians deep into the playoffs.
But handling it at the big league level is a tad more intimidating. Muncy has handled starts at second, third and right field this season. He made his major league debut a year ago and started 17 games at first and 10 starts at third.
Whatever it takes to be in the big leagues, right?
“Absolutely. The more positions you play the more opportunities you have to stick and the more opportunities you have to get your bat in the lineup,” Muncy said. “It’s where you want to be.”
The focus on learning new positions — including the footwork, the throws, the positioning on relay throws — is more complex than most probably assume.
In 2016, the A’s have added the outfield to Muncy’s plate. He’s made 36 outfield starts in the minors and 12 in the majors, the last coming Aug. 3. He’s error-free in the outfield. His only error in 26 games came in his first of the season while at third base.
As a Rangers fans, it was hard not to always root for Michael Young. He was always a class act. But being a left-handed bat I was always a Hank Blalock fan.
Keller ex and current Oakland A’s utility player Max Muncy
“It’s always fun to show up when you have an idea where you’re going to be at. I really enjoy that,” said Muncy, who went to Baylor as a second baseman but primarily played first before Oakland drafted him in the fifth round in 2012. “It’s a lot of fun to get work at all different positions, which I really enjoy, but at the same time it’s really tough because I’m learning all these different types of positions at the highest level.”
The intensive work at different positions leaves less time to work on hitting, he said.
“These are all positions I’m learning on the fly. That part of it is tough, because you have to go out there every single day, get your work in at different positions,” said Muncy, hitting .203 with two homers in 79 at-bats through Friday. “While you’re doing that, it takes away from other parts of your game.”
Muncy focused on baseball his sophomore year at Keller after a family discussion about his future. That meant quitting football, in which he was a talented running back and linebacker.
“It’s Texas! All the coaches [were] saying you need to play football,” said Muncy, who was concerned a football injury would jeopardize his baseball career. “You see that happen all the time. Football is a rough sport. You never know what’s going to happen. You can be the healthiest person out there and suddenly a guy falls into your knee, and not even on purpose, and you’re done.”
By the time he was earning All-Big 12 first-team accolades in 2011, Muncy thought the big leagues were realistic. For the Keller kid who grew up a Rangers fan and idolizing Michael Young and emulating the left-handed hitting of Hank Blalock, there are no regrets about focusing just on baseball.
“It got me into Baylor and I loved every second of that,” he said. “I don’t regret that at all. It got me here.”
Hometown notables
▪ Infielder Kevin Cron (TCU) has six hits, with two doubles, a homer, and five RBIs in his past five games for the Double A Mobile BayBears (Diamondbacks).
▪ Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard (Mansfield Timberview) hit his third homer Wednesday to tie a one-season club record for pitchers set by Walt Terrell and Tom Seaver. Syndergaard’s 415-foot, two-run homer against the D’backs in Phoenix had an exit velocity of 108.2 mph, the third-hardest hit homer by a pitcher in the Statcast era, according to MLB.com. Apparently Syndergaard hits even harder than he throws.
▪ Royals right-hander Dillon Gee (Cleburne, UT Arlington) held the Twins to one run on five hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings Thursday to improve to 5-6.
▪ Triple A Pawtucket Red Sox infielder Jantzen Witte (Arlington Martin, TCU) has hit safely in his past six games and nine hits in the span, including two doubles and three runs scored.
Stefan Stevenson: 817-390-7760, @StevensonFWST
This story was originally published August 20, 2016 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Former Keller player Max Muncy a man for all positions with A’s."