Baltimore Orioles: Manny Machado is one more injury away from retirement

Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Manny Machado is a very talented, young ball player. However, he is a very talented, young ball player who is extremely injury-prone. The 22-year-old from Florida has suffered three knee injuries in the past four years.

When Machado made his Major League debut in August of 2012, he had already suffered a knee injury the summer before while with the Delmarva Shorebirds. In 2012, Machado batted .262/.294/.445 with  seven home runs and 26 RBI. He was able to play to the end of the season without injury.

This is significant because this was the only time in Machado’s career when he was able to play the final game of the Orioles’ schedule. In fact, Machado has yet to play a complete season.

In 2012, he arrived on the Major League scene in August (51 games- 202 plate appearances).

In 2013, he suffered a season-ending injury to his left knee while running through first base on a ground ball to second base against the Rays in September (156 games- 710 plate appearances).

And in 2014, he suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee while running out of the batter’s box in a home game against the Yankees in August (82 games- 354 plate appearances).

One more knee injury may spell the end for Machado’s playing career, which would be an absolute heart breaker to not only Orioles fans, but baseball fans in general. This Platinum Glove Award winner has all the talent to be one of the best third basemen in the game today. Machado’s knees now just need to stay healthy and hopefully he will play his first full season in 2015.