Baseball’s eyes — including the Yankees’ — are on Manny Machado.
And he’s not exactly giving those pupils a workout.
A headliner of the upcoming free agency season drew some unpleasant attention Saturday night, when he didn’t run out a fourth-inning ground ball in the shortstop hole during the Dodgers’ 4-3 win in Game 2 of the NLCS in Milwaukee.
In a 0-0 game, Machado hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Orlando Arcia’s right. Arcia grabbed it, then took his time as he realized the superstar was loafing it to first base. (Video can be seen here.)
“Machado’s not running,” remarked Joe Buck on the Fox telecast. “… Machado didn’t hustle.”
Buck wasn’t alone.
“Once again Manny doesn’t run hard,” Orioles Hall of Famer and broadcaster Jim Palmer tweeted. “Down 0-1 in series , 0-0 game in 4th. Too tired to run hard for 90 feet. But wants the big $$ #pathetic.”
The 26-year-old shortstop and third baseman was in his seventh season in Baltimore before the trade to Los Angeles. In June with Baltimore, Machado had to apologize to manager Buck Showalter for not running out a ground ball.
It’s possible Machado does not want to risk injury ahead of an enormous payday that surely will come, 100 percent effort or not. But the Yankees and his other suitors surely took note of his high-profile jog.
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