Baltimore Orioles: Manny Machado – Season-Ending Knee Surgery
It has been confirmed through a whole variety of sources that Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado will have season-ending knee surgery for the second consecutive year. This is not good news for the Orioles, even with the largest divisional lead in baseball.
The incident happened on a swing in a game on August 11th, where Machado went down in a heap in the batter’s box. The appearance at the time was not good, and this news of a pending surgery is actually not that surprising to be quite honest. The Orioles have spoken over the past 10 days of hopes of resuming baseball activities and seeing Manny back on the field, but between the lines, nothing sounded like any specific progress toward such healing was taking place.
There are two questions that arise quickly from this:
First – What are the Baltimore Orioles going to do for the rest of the season without him and how does this affect their chances?
There is no doubt that the O’s are a better team with Machado than without him. But there are options, including Chris Davis at third base – who is well above average defensively.
The Orioles’ record with and without Manny is virtually the same
Also, I don’t think most Orioles fans would believe that the following is true, but it is a fact that the Orioles this year have had similar successes with Manny out of the lineup as with him playing. With him in the order their record is 47-35 (.573), and without him it is 26-18 (.590).
Secondly – What does this say about Manny Machado and his long-term prospects for a healthy career? I believe there is substantive reason for concern. As a retired running coach of many years, I wrote an extensive piece on this topic last week, and you may see that HERE.
The surgery on Machado’s right knee will be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache – the same doctor who did his surgery last year.
What a weird year this has been for injuries throughout baseball! And football is supposed to be the sport with all the physical damage.