While the Los Angeles Dodgers viewed their trade for Manny Machado at the non-waiver deadline as adding one of the game’s best players to their lineup, he’s yet to produce at the same level seen during the first half of the season with the Baltimore Orioles.
Machado was in the midst of a career year, batting .315/.387/.575 with 21 doubles, 24 home runs and 65 RBI through 96 games before the trade. He’s had a recent surge with the Dodgers but is still hitting closer to .250 than .300 during his time with the club.
During some of his latest success, Machado has taken long looks at drives to deep in the outfield that ultimately didn’t carry long enough for a home run. The first instance was during a game at Dodger Stadium, and the latest came in Monday’s win at Chase Field.
Both times, Machado wound up with a double. Although Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did not specifically address Monday’s trot with Machado, he said a general discussion has taken place about effort, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“There’s a little bit of conservation because he is an every-day player,” Roberts said. “I’ve talked to him about that. But it’s not anything to disrespect the game.”
Roberts has a history of benching players over effort or mental lapses in judgment. Yasiel Puig could be identified as the poster child, and Cody Bellinger also earned himself a spot in the doghouse earlier this year.
Effort hasn’t been an issue or question for Machado during his career, and outside of the two aforementioned at-bats, the talented shortstop hasn’t shown any signs of potentially dogging plays.
