The Baltimore Orioles Five Biggest Offseason Priorities
Get back all their injured players
May 6, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher
Matt Wieters(32) is congratulated by third baseman
Manny Machado(13) after he scored a run during the eighth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Orioles were battling several injuries during the 2014 season that severely impacted the lineup. Starting catcher Matt Wieters was off to a career start before he went down and required Tommy John surgery. J.J. Hardy was posting the best averages of his career, but he would miss two or three games here and there throughout the season. Manny Machado was just starting to heat up before he hurt his knee.
The Orioles will be thrilled to just get these guys back on the field. Now the question becomes: How will they respond to their respective injuries?
As for Wieters, Tommy John surgery is a big deal in baseball. Though many players have come back strong from it in the past few years, more have suffered through less success after the surgery. Wieters will be fighting to become one of those to come back strong and pick up right where he left off.
Machado suffered his second knee injury in two years, so it will be an even larger challenge for him to make a strong comeback. All we can do is cross our fingers and hope that they will return the same way that they left.