When the Los Angeles Dodgers traded for Manny Machado during the All-Star break, they trailed the Arizona Diamondbacks in the standings but were the overwhelming favorites to win the National League West.
Machado provided an early spark but he and the team also went into a slide, which put them 4.5 games back of the Diamondbacks as recently as last week. They early made up all that ground behind back-to-back series sweeps and Arizona hitting their own troubles.
With the teams meeting for a pivotal four-game series this weekend, Machado told David Vassegh of AM 570 L.A. Sports Radio he’s looking forward to the NL West race down the stretch of the season:
“It’s been awesome, man. This last week has been awesome. It’s been fun to be playing baseball. I know everyone here is excited to get back to where they got last year. It’s not going to be as easy as it was, but I know everyone in here is capable of doing it again. Everyone here is working to get there. It’s been fun, man. It’s been awesome to go out there every day and put on this uniform. I’m just looking forward to September, where it’s going to be a lot more meaningful games. This weekend is probably going to be crazy. So I’m excited for it. This is what I was meant for. What I was built for.”
The Dodgers’ turnaround coincided with Machado again finding his swing — and power — at the plate. That was related to manager Dave Roberts settling on batting Justin Turner second in the lineup followed by Machado at his usual No. 3 spot.
It’s where the talented shortstop has hit for the majority of his career and feels most comfortable. With his fifth home run in the past eight games on Thursday, Machado additionally has at least one RBI in the last five games.
He went 2-for-3 with a walk and was the only Dodgers batter to not strikeout in the 3-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.
