Baseball is currently going through a resurgence with so many young superstars in Major League Baseball, especially this season with the likes of Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, and Kris Bryant. Heading into the 2016 Major League Season, Manny Machado seemed to have become a forgotten man. Forgotten in the sense that many before 2016 seemed to fail to remember that Machado was also promoted during the 2012 baseball season which saw the debuts of future AL and NL MVPs Trout and Harper. They have gone on to distinguish themselves as the faces of baseball while Machado is finally establishing himself as a superstar in the making. Now it is time to talk about the making of Machado into the superstar he is quickly becoming and the rise of the Baltimore Orioles.
The 2010 Draft:
This draft has been know as the Bryce Harper draft. The heralded 17 year old from the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas was everyone’s unanimous number one overall pick in the draft and Harper did nothing during the 2010 season to take away from such lofty praise. The second pick is where much of the drama in this draft started, with questions such as do the Pittsburgh Pirates go after the number one high school pitcher in Jameson Taillon or do they draft the number one position player in the draft, which was widely considered to be Machado.
The Pirates chose to go with a potential ace in Taillon, leaving the Baltimore Orioles with the very easy decision of drafting Machado. What made Machado the resounding number one high school position player in the 2010 draft was that he had quick hands that generate bat speed, power to all fields especially toward the power alleys, ran really well, and was a smart, alert base runner with great instincts. He had a strong, accurate arm so he is able to make all throws from shortstop and covered lots of ground to both his left and right. He made some of the most difficult plays at shortstop look very easy and extremely smooth. He knew how to play the game and was a legitimate five tool player and a future All-Star shortstop.
The 2012 Season:
During the spring of 2012, the talk around major league baseball was how soon were Harper and Trout going to make their Major League debuts. Machado did not hit well early in the season, batting a paltry .190, proving that spending some more time in AA was warranted. So while the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles of Angels Anaheim called up Harper and Trout on April 28th, 2012, Machado still had to work on becoming a better major league hitter at Double-A Bowie Baysox. That was until August 9th, 2012, the next day Machado crushed not one, but two home runs in his Major League debut, becoming the youngest Oriole to have a multi-home run game. Machado finished the 2012 season with a .262 batting average and 7 home runs. Doing all of this while learning a new position at third base.
The 2013 through 2015 Seasons:
In Machado’s first full season, he was on a complete tear and made his first All-Star Game by hitting .310 with 7 home runs with 45 runs batted in. He was having a great season while playing in every game since he was called up in August of 2012. Then came every player’s worst nightmare, an injury.
On September 23, 2013, while trying to beat out a play at first base, Machado suffered an injury that was visually gruesome and he left the field on a stretcher. Machado decided immediately to have surgery on his knee so he could begin the four to six month recovery process. His 2014 season started in June, but unfortunately as soon as Machado came off the disabled list, he would return due to a sprained knee he suffered against the New York Yankees.
The buzz immediately started, the detrimental rumor that maybe Machado would never reach his vast potential due to the two knee injuries that ended his 2013 and 2014 seasons. Well, the best part for Machado heading into the 2015 season was his health. All Machado did during the 2015 season was bat .286 with 35 home runs and drove in 86 runs as well as play in all 162 games during the season. While doing all of this at the plate, his regular play at third base led to Machado winning his second gold glove award.
The 2016 Season and Beyond:
Machado began the 2016 season with a sixteen game hitting streak leading to Player of the Month honors for April. Then, on May 1st, J.J. Hardy went down by fouling a ball off his foot that caused him to land on the 15-day disabled list. So instead of calling a minor leaguer up to the Major League team, Baltimore decided to shift Machado to shortstop, the position that he played when he was drafted out of high school. While Machado played shortstop, the Orioles did not miss a beat, staying atop the American League East standings until July 19. Hardy is signed through the 2017 season, but maybe Machado gave many in the front office a possible glimpse in the near future. Perhaps Machado could end up manning shortstop for the Orioles once Hardy’s career is over.
Machado coming out of high school was a shortstop, and as a high school shortstop he was compared favorably to many current and past Major League shortstops, like Troy Tulowitzki and Alex Rodriguez, or even former Oriole great Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. Another thing that Machado has going for him is his youth; he is only in his third full season in baseball and in 2016 many are starting to describe Machado as one of the best players in the league. As long as Machado can stay away from the disabled list and continue to perform as one of the league’s best players, the only question left to ask about Machado is will he ever go back and play shortstop everyday like he did in high school. That is one question all of us will have to wait and see.
