Orioles to call up top prospect Manny Machado from Double-A - MLB

Now here’s a surprise: Baltimore is calling up 20-year-old shortstop Manny Machado from Double-A Bowie on Thursday, MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli reports.

Machado, the third overall pick in the 2010 draft, has been on fire of late, going 15-for-32 with three homers in his last nine games. He hit for the cycle on Saturday. Still, he hasn’t been all that great on the season as a whole, hitting .266/.350/.431 with 10 homers and 58 RBI in 399 at-bats. Of course, he was doing that as one of the youngest players in the upper minors — he just turned 20 years old on Monday.

The guess is that Machado will join the mix at third base for the Orioles, even though he’s played just two games there as a pro. The Orioles have mostly used Wilson Betemit at third of late and he’s been producing, but he can play first base, left field and DH. Mark Reynolds and Chris Davis have both been slumping and could stand to lose some playing time. Shortstop J.J. Hardy has been a bit better of late and is likely to remain an everyday player.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”