Manny Machado Will be Every Day Third Baseman
It didn’t take long for Manny Machado to slide back to third base. After being acquired from the Orioles last week, it looked as if Machado would be spending majority of his time playing shortstop. Well, looks like the Dodgers will be going back to platooning that position. On Monday, it was announced Justin Turner would be hitting the disabled list. With Turner on the DL, third base is open. Enter Manny Machado.
With Justin Turner on the disabled list, Manny Machado will be the everyday third baseman, Dave Roberts said. Roberts was unsure if Turner will require more than 10 days off.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) July 23, 2018
It looks as if this will be permanent, at least until Turner returns. With the length of time Turner is expected to miss, we could see Machado at third for a while.
Having spent his entire career at third, Machado moved over to shortstop this season. Coming over to the Dodgers, Machado was expected to slide in and be their everyday shortstop. Dave Roberts said he would eventually play him at third, but would take a while to get him re-accumulated to the hot corner. Hopefully a few days was more than enough time.
Analysis
If you look at the numbers, Machado is far better playing third base. You hate to see a guy like Turner go down, but when you’re essentially upgrading at the position, it’s not the worst thing in the world. After coming to LA, Manny said he’ll do whatever it takes to help ensure the Dodgers win games. It looks like going back to where he spent his first seven years is the first and most important thing the Dodgers will ask of him.
