The Athletics have drafted Max Muncy ... again.
With the 25th overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft, Oakland picked up Max Muncy, a high school shortstop from Thousand Oaks High School in California. Nine years earlier, the A's took a first baseman out of Baylor by the same name: yes, Dodgers All-Star Max Muncy.
The similarities don't stop at the name. The two players share a birthday — Aug. 25. The now-Dodgers standout was born in 1990 and the A's draftee was born in 2002. They are not related.
With the 25th pick in the 2021 Draft, the Oakland Athletics select Max Muncy from Thousand Oaks HS!#MLBDraft | #RiseAndGrind pic.twitter.com/Gqx4UW8FA5
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 12, 2021
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There's still more that makes the players seem awfully similar. The high schooler is 6-1, per MLB Pipeline, while the big leaguer is 6-0. Both were known coming into the draft as having above-average power and positional flexibility — though the high schooler has a chance to stay at shortstop, whereas the Dodger star has split time between first and third base, with occasional time at second.
The 2021 Athletics draft pick is likely hoping his Oakland career lasts a little longer than his Dodger counterpart's. MLB star Max Muncy was selected in the fifth round of the 2012 draft but was cut by the Athletics in April 2017. The Dodgers signed him to a minor league contract a few weeks later and he returned to the big leagues with them in 2018. He hit 35 home runs that year and has been a mainstay with Los Angeles ever since. He has now been named an All-Star twice and won a World Series ring in 2020.
Thousand Oaks shortstop Max Muncy has drawn praise for his bat, with MLB Pipeline describing him as a potentially average hitter with "perhaps above-average power." The scouting site says he could stick at shortstop but could move to second or third base. It compared him to Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson and former Rangers and Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler.
The A's have already had one Max Muncy and watched him become a star in Los Angeles. They might want to be more patient with the second one.
