The Dodgers placed third baseman Justin Turner on the 10-day disabled list with a groin injury on Monday. Previously, the club has handled Turner’s absence by using Max Muncy, Kyle Farmer, and Logan Forsythe at the hot corner. However, the Dodgers recently acquired shortstop Manny Machado from the Orioles. Machado is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner at third base. Understandably, the Dodgers will move Machado over to third base while Turner is out, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports. Chris Taylor is starting at shortstop to open a three-game series in Philadelphia Monday night.
The move is a bit inspired by Muncy’s poor defensive performance at third base in recent days. He made two costly errors in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Brewers, and he made another error in Sunday’s 11-2 win against the Brewers. Muncy has seven total errors in 266 2/3 defensive innings at third base this season.
Machado, 26, was hitting .315/.387/.575 with 24 home runs and 65 RBI in 413 plate appearances with the Orioles before the trade. In three games with the Dodgers, he has five hits, including one double, and one RBI.
Neither the Dodgers nor Turner expect his stint on the disabled list to last longer than the minimum 10 days, so Machado will slide back to shortstop soon enough.
