​PHILADELPHIA –– There were many times early in his career that Max Muncy never thought he’d be an All-Star.There were plenty more moments in recent years when he doubted he’d ever get back again.Max Muncy’s return to the MLB All-Star game was made possible after hitting .259 with 17 home runs and 40 RBI’s. MLB Photos via Getty ImagesThat’s why, as Muncy arrived in Philadelphia this week for his third career All-Star Game, the veteran third baseman reflected on his previous trips and realized this year’s felt a little more meaningful.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Once you hit 30, you kind of wonder,” Muncy told the California Post. “The world tries to tell you that you’re past your prime. So you start wondering about that a little bit. And then for me, just with the injuries the last couple years, it’s not something you necessarily expect to happen.”Instead, in what has been a renaissance season for the 35-year-old slugger, Muncy was voted in as the National League’s starting third baseman, returning to the Midsummer Classic for the first time in a half-decade after previous nods in 2019 and 2021.Muncy walked the MLB All-Star game red carpet with his family on Tuesday afternoon. MLB Photos via Getty ImagesAnd this week, he allowed himself to soak up the experience, relishing an accomplishment that once felt out of reach.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I always knew I’m still this kind of player,” Muncy said. “It’s just that I had to be healthy. And this year, I’ve been able to show that.”In Muncy’s previous All-Star seasons, of course, his selections to the games were their own kind of surprises. Up until 2018, he had been a minor-league player who toiled with limited MLB opportunities. But then, in one of the most unlikely development stories of the Dodgers’ decade-and-a-half-long run of dominance, he emerged as one of the team’s most potent hitters.Muncy was named an All-Star for the third time in his career. MLB Photos via Getty ImagesLooking back now, however, Muncy’s recent return to the summit has felt almost as unlikely as that initial breakthrough ascent.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt the end of 2021, he infamously blew out his elbow on the last day of the regular season and underwent surgery, the after-effects of which dogged him over the following couple of years (he hit a combined .204, albeit with 57 total home runs, in 2022 and 2023).And though Muncy’s production improved in 2024 and 2025 (batting .238 with an .849 OPS), repeated problems with his oblique, plus a freak knee injury last injury, limited him to just 173 total games.At his age, another season of full health was starting to feel far from guaranteed.This year, however, Muncy dropped weight in the offseason and got medical treatment that helped calm his oblique.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhat has followed has been perhaps the most consistent all-around performance of his career, hi