Last season on June 1, Manny Machado appeared to be one of baseball’s best players
Fast forward to the present and Machado is playing completely different. This year through the season’s first two months, Machado is batting .205, which is No. 80 of 80 qualified hitters in the American League.
His on-base percentage of .286 is amongst the 10 lowest in the league. Tuesday night versus the New York Yankees, Machado struck out on four occasions, which is the first time since 2014 and just the second time during his career.
This all comes following a stellar 2016 season where the Orioles slugger ended the season with a batting average of .294, 37 home runs and was in the top five in the voting for AL MVP for a second straight season.
One AL scout said Machado was pressing and trying too hard. What makes it harder for Machado is the team is losing. Since May 10, the Orioles are 5-14.
In addition, the players behind him have not produced like in the past. Mark Trumbo is hitting half the number of home runs he did last season and Chris Davis is striking out at a rate of 250 per season.
Players in front of Machado in the order, such as Adam Jones have been hurt and Machado is not use to having a slump of this proportion which adds to his current woes.
Machado’s manager Buck Showalter said his slugger was facing the world’s best pitchers and they will look to make you pay even more when you are in a slump since they are aware of the success you have had previously and the damage you can do.
Despite his problems, Machado is producing with 10 home runs and 25 RBIs, which is 1, shy of the lead for both categories.
Machado continues to be a defensive stalwart at third base for Baltimore something not lost on Showalter, who said he was impressed with how Machado had been handling some challenges to start the season.
Despite the poor start by Machado and the current woes of the team, Baltimore is in third place in the AL East at 27-24 just 3 ½ games behind the first place New York Yankees.
