MLB Player News

Our Scott White is not pleased with the depth at the third base position this season, but he begrudgingly considers Manny Machado of the Orioles a worthy start in his Hit Parade column for Fantasy Week 5 (April 29-May 5).

Machado has been up and down in his second season, but is batting .327 over the last 13 games and has some decent matchups this week. The Orioles do not seem likely to face much in the way of high-end starting pitcher during matchups with the Angels and Mariners. Machado could remain hot and worth starting for the scoring period. 

The depth at the position should be improving in the next few weeks with a handful of high-end options set to return. Until that happens, Machado is a decent low-end Fantasy option.

At a position rife with underachievers like Will Middlebrooks, Pedro Alvarez, Mike Moustakas and Lonnie Chisenhall, Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson deserves to be owned in more than 48 percent of Fantasy leagues. His hot start may be an aberration.

Remember, after a lengthy stint at Triple-A Sacremento last year, he returned to hit .290 with eight home runs and an .844 OPS over the final six weeks. Combine those numbers with his numbers so far this year, and he's batting .293 with 10 home runs over his last 256 at-bats in the majors. That's not such a small sample.

I'm not saying he'll outperform Middlebrooks, Alvarez and Moustakas all year, but he won't finish so far behind them that you should ignore him while he's clearly the hot hand.

Twins infielder and utility player Eduardo Escobar does the little things, his manager Ron Gardenhire told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. 

The 24-year-old has been a pinch-runner and pinch-hitter. He's played shortstop and third base and has been an emergency outfielder as well. 

"He says he can pitch," teammate Wilkin Ramirez said. "He’s done it before."

Even more impressive, Escobar is hitting for the Twins. The smallest player on the roster racked up his second three-hit game Tuesday night and he added a walk. Only Joe Mauer has more three-hit games this year with three. 

"He’s a nice little player," Gardenhire said. "He’s been swinging great. A lot of fun to watch out there."

Escobar is batting .480 after 12 games and 25 at-bats with a double, triple, homer and five RBI. 

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado continued to produce big hits on Wednesday during an extra-inning loss against Toronto. Machado hit an RBI triple, his first of the year, in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the score at five runs apiece. 

Machado finished 2 for 5 in the game and now has 14 RBI on the season for the Orioles. He's batting .276 after going 5 for 11 in the three-game series with the Blue Jays with a double, triple and three RBI. 

After committing five errors in 51 games as a rookie in 2012, Orioles starting third baseman Manny Machado has managed a clean sheet through 20 games this season. He's converted all 55 of his chances, which includes six double plays.

"I don’t want to lessen it any, but I think people make too much of the experience at third base," manager Buck Showalter said, per The Baltimore Sun. "There’s a lot of things about infield being infield, OK? It wasn’t like all the sudden we took him from Bowie and put him at third base. We had been doing it for two months, just nobody knew about it. So it wasn’t foreign to him when he got here. Your clock is the biggest thing you’ve got to get going. Manny’s done a good job over there. It’s impressive."

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria has reached base safely in 34 straight games, dating back to Sept. 19 of last year, MLB.com reports. That gives him the longest active streak in baseball and the third-longest streak in Rays history behind Johnny Damon's 39 in 2011 and Ben Grieve's 37 in 2001. 

Longoria reached base safely in his 20th straight game to start this season when he homered for the fifth time in the ninth inning off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to pull the Rays within 4-3. Longoria went 1 for 4 Tuesday and is batting .282. 

Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson went 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles and a walk during Oakland's 9-6 loss at Boston Monday night. Donaldson, who also scored twice, drove in two runs on his double in the eighth inning, his fifth two-base hit overall this season.

The 27-year-old was back in the lineup against the Red Sox after sitting out the previous outing, the first time he did not start a game for the Athletics this season. He is now hitting .264.

Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe started his 15th straight game Sunday against White Sox. Plouffe is one of three Twins' position players, joining Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, to start every game this season.

Unfortunately, Plouffe is mired in a 0-for-12 slump, which has dropped his season average (.196) below the Mendoza Line. Plouffe has just two home runs and four RBI in 51 at-bats.

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria reached on an error and doubled Sunday against the Athletics to extend his on-base streak to 18 games. It's the third-longest streak to start a season in franchise history, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Longoria's feat trails Rocco Baldelli's franchise-best 24-game streak and Jorge Cantu's 20-game streak.

"For the most part, he's kept his strike zone organized," manager Joe Maddon said. "And as long as he does, he'll hit the ball consistently well all year."

I'm not quite convinced Fantasy owners need to rush Orioles third baseman Manny Machado into their lineups for Week 4 (April 22-28). 

Machado has been on a good run the last few weeks, batting .302 (16 for 53) with two home runs, four doubles, 10 runs and 10 RBI in 13 games. But basically that surge takes him back to where his numbers were last season. His slash line through 17 games (.268/.307/.423/.729) is pretty similar to what he produced last year (.262/.294/.445/.739). It's also pretty close to what he did in the minors (.263/.344/.432/.776).

I have no doubt Machado has a bright future in the majors, but don't forget he's only 20 years old. Not every elite prospect is in the mold of Bryce Harper or Mike Trout. Many of them have ups and downs before hitting their stride.

I just don't think Machado is ready for his breakout run, so I would continue to temper expectations.