PT TOMORROW: AL East—Post-Machado, Nunez gets first crack at 3B in BAL

Baltimore Orioles

Updating Matt Dodge’s write-up in Playing Time Today in the immediate aftermath of the Manny Machado (SS, LAD) trade, the Orioles have given the first three post-All-Star-break starts at third base not to Danny Valencia (3B, BAL), but to Renato Núñez (3B, BAL). While this decision may have to do somewhat with the fact that Valencia is currently the best available right fielder on the roster, the team seems genuinely intrigued to find out what it has in Nunez, who had posted a .289/.361/.443 line in 56 games for AAA-Norfolk before being called up after the Machado trade. Nunez had a 76% contact rate, a slight improvement over the 74% he posted at the same level in 2017.

Longer term, the Orioles continue to hope that...

Almost!

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