Baltimore Orioles: Manny Machado finally looks like Manny Machado again

The Baltimore Orioles have been a team that is in search of starting pitching in a major way, but the offensive contributions are starting to increase.

The Baltimore Orioles starting rotation has been atrocious. The bullpen has been waylaid by injuries and ineffectiveness by guys needed to help bandage things together.

But, let’s not focus on the offense here. Let’s in turn focus on one of the struggling offensive players.

Baltimore Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones has been consistently effective this season, especially with runners in scoring position. Now, going the other way (to right field) for the ball as he has recently will only improve his numbers.

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Jonathan Schoop has been one of the best second basemen in the American League, with stiff competition.

Mark Trumbo has been consistently solid for the Orioles, despite power numbers being down. His best work has come in clutch situations.

Trey Mancini has been a tremendous revelation, forcing his way into the lineup and being effective while in it, both offensively and defensively.

Welington Castillo‘s offense has also been very good for the Orioles.

But, what about Manny Machado.

Now, Manny’s defense has been Gold Glove worthy. Every night he makes a play that a lot of third basemen can’t make.

But, the national media and even local media and fans have wondered what is wrong with Manny’s offense?

Well, on Tuesday night Machado went 4-4 with two home runs, a double (which was almost a home run), four RBIs and three runs scored. BaltimoreBaseball.com writer Dan Connolly has more on Machado’s comments after the game, and Buck Showalter‘s.

Coming into the game, Machado’s batting average was hovering around .215. Now? Up to .227.

But, was Machado ever slumping, or just a victim of bad luck?

Manny has a batting average on balls in play (BABIP) of .235. This is well below his career average of .303. If his BABIP was matching his career average, one could assume he would be hitting somewhere around .290, as his batting average the past two seasons has been within 15 points of his BABIP. This year, his BABIP and batting average are within 10 points.

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The Orioles are a little less than 45 percent through their season. If Machado were to simply double his current numbers for the rest of the season (and it is likely they will increase), he would end up with 30 HRs, 28 2Bs, 116 H, 64 R, 72 RBIs, 50 BB and 120 Ks.

Are these numbers great? No, they aren’t. But, when you are comparing them to numbers for a guy who was an MVP finalist in 2015 and 2016, of course, they will look subpar.

Machado’s HR% is 5.3 percent, the same as it was in 2016, meaning he is hitting home runs in 5.3 percent of his at-bats. His strikeout rate is the highest of his career at 21.1 percent, but his walk rate of 8.8 percent is the second best of his career, to only 2015.

Fifty percent of Machado’s base hits have been for an extra base, another statistic that shows that he is not getting as many singles. Could this be due to teams using different defensive positions against him? Possibly.

Machado’s AB/RBI is 7.1, meaning he is driving in runs every seven at-bats. This is better than his career average of 7.8, and second only to his 2016 number of 6.7.

Other than the high number of strikeouts, a lot of Machado’s early struggles have been due to the low BABIP. One has to expect that will improve and even out as the season moves forward.

Oriole fans have nothing to worry about regarding Machado’s on the field performance.

His contract situation, however, is another story.

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