July 5th, 2019 at 5:30 pm 
by Ron Cervenka Dodgers infielder Max Muncy has been named to the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which will take place on July 9 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. He will replace Washington Nationals infielder Anthony Rendon, who has elected to skip the game to rest and spend time with his family.
Muncy will join teammates Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Cody Bellinger and Walker Buehler at Major League Baseball’s 90th Midsummer Classic.
The 28-year-old Midland, TX native was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Baylor University but was released by the A’s on March 31, 2017; an absolute blessing for the Dodgers, who signed him as a free agent on April 28, 2017 and assigned him to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers.
Muncy made his (major league) Dodgers debut on April 17, 2018 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The following night, April 18, he hit his first home run in a Dodgers uniform. He would finish the 2018 regular season with a team-best 35 home runs, this in spite of not having been called up to the Dodgers until their 16th game of the 2018 season. He finished the 2018 campaign with an excellent slash-line of .263 / .391 / .582 / .973 as the team’s (almost) everyday first baseman.
Through the Dodgers first 89 game this season, Muncy has appeared in 86 of them and is slashing an All-Star-Game-worthy .276. / 379 / .543 / .921 with 21 homers and 59 RBI. Since May 1, he is 58-for-200 (.290) with 16 home runs and 42 RBI. He currently ranks 10th in the NL in home runs, 13th in RBI, 14th in OBP, and 14th in OPS. On the road he has an OPS of .995, the best in all of baseball. He has also slugged 14 home runs and driven in 36 when away from Chavez Ravine.
Although Muncy competed in the Home Run Derby at last year’s All-Star festivities at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., this will be his first actual All-Star Game appearance.
With the addition of Muncy, the Dodgers will now have five representatives at the 2019 Midsummer Classic – most in the National League and second only to the Houston Astros’ six.
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Was nice to see an injustice finally corrected for once. Muncy would’ve been among the biggest All-Star snubs in recent memory had he not been selected for what he’s done so far this season. Shouldn’t have had to be shoed in at the expense of an injured Rendon, but it is what it is.
I agree, Muncy deserves to be an All-Star. He’s one of the best clutch hitters in the game.