Manny Machado finally living up to expectations

Last night Manny Machado hit his first home run since July 30. He made up for lost time by hitting two.

Through Machado’s first 16 games with LA, he had a very under-whelming slash line of .250/.360/.391/.751. When the Dodgers traded for him during the All-Star break, they were expecting to be getting one of the best hitters in the game.

In the first-half with Baltimore, Machado’s slash was .315/.387/.575/.963, so the drop-off was a fairly significant one.

Even more concerning than his lack of hitting, was his increased amount of strikeouts.

Through his first 96 games with Baltimore, Machado was striking out only 12 percent of the time. During Machado’s first few weeks with LA, his strikeout percentage doubled, and he was striking out in ¹⁄₄ of his at-bats.

Dodgers fans were beginning to grow frustrated with Machado’s underwhelming performance. Luckily, it looks as if he’s slowly turning back into the player the Dodgers expected to be trading for.

In the last 11 games, Machado is hitting .326. He has 2 home runs, 5 RBI and has scored seven runs. He’s hitting the ball harder and hitting more line drives, along with getting the ball in the air more.

Machado says he’s just ‘staying with his approach’.

He spoke with Alanna Rizzo following Friday night’s victory.

The recent success came after Dave Roberts swapped him and Justin Turner in the lineup, putting Turner in the two hole and Machado in the three hole.

Manny’s bat is becoming hot at the right time. The Dodgers are riding a small two-game winning streak, and the offense appears to be clicking for the first time in weeks.