When Orioles third baseman Manny Machado was a standout high school player in Miami, he elicited comparisons to another phenom who hailed from South Florida: Alex Rodriguez. The parallels continued when Machado was selected as the third overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft; Rodriguez had been chosen first by the Mariners in 1993.
Naturally, the two paths of their major-league careers will be analyzed and it appears Machado, who was roughly 13 months older than A-Rod at the time of his debut, holds a slight edge approaching his 100th game. According to the Baltimore Sun, through the first 89 games of their careers, Machado has more runs scored (52 to 38), doubles (22-18), homers (12-11), RBI (50-44) and a higher batting average (.294-.253).