SF Giants rivalry series will not be the same without infamous Dodger

SF Giants fans have become all too familiar with Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Max Muncy over the years. With Muncy currently injured, the Giants will not have to face the dreaded foe in this weekend’s series against the Dodgers. 

Muncy injured his knee recently and will be out at least six weeks. The third baseman injured his knee on a collision with White Sox outfielder Michael A. Taylor who tried to steal third.

SF Giants rivalry series will not be the same without infamous foe

On the season prior to his injury, Muncy was slashing .250/.375/.457 with 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in. He was having a solid season so the Giants are catching a little bit of a break by not having to face him.

We know Muncy has tormented the Giants in the past. He had his famous spat with Madison Bumgarner back in 2019 and has overall put up good numbers against the Giants. In his career against San Francisco he has slashed .260/.365/.573 with 25 home runs and 58 RBI. He has also hit well at Oracle Park in his career with a .274/.390/.568 slash line and 11 homers along with 33 runs driven in.

Those are impressive numbers so thankfully Muncy will not be able to torch the Giants at Oracle these next three games. 

Even though Muncy is rightfully reviled by Giants fans, he did make a good point last month when he said that the rivalry between the Giants and Dodgers is really the only one that matters.

It has become fashionable as of late to say that the Dodgers and San Diego Padres have a more intense rivalry than the Giants and Dodgers do. While there is certainly no love lost between the Dodgers and Padres as evidenced by their recent spat, that ignores the bitter rivalry between two franchises that has existed dating back to their days in New York. 

At least Muncy acknowledges the special nature of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry even though there are still plenty of annoying things about him.

Even without Muncy, the rivalry between the two teams will be as fierce as ever this weekend as the Giants look to close the gap between themselves and the Dodgers in the NL West standings. They sit five games back, so they have an opportunity to draw closer before the All-Star break.