Baltimore Orioles: Three players who can help in the second half

In a recent article from The Washington Post, Manny Machado spoke about how bored his was watching the All-Star Game. He told Samantha Pell with the Post:

"“It was a little boring to watch it. I don’t know how people go out there and watch games. Now I know why sometimes people don’t come to games.”"

If the three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner had better stats in 2017, he would not have had to sit back and watch his friends play. He would have been playing instead. Over the course of Machado’s career, his slash is .278/.329/.472 with an OPS of .802.

But this year, Machado doesn’t look like himself. His current slash is .232/.299/.443 with an OPS of .742. Despite his sinking numbers, he is on target to hit at least 30 home runs and doubles. It’s the singles that are down. In 2016, he had 188 hits, but he currently has only 79. Machado could end up with fewer than 160 by the end of the season and he has only missed five games in 2017.

It is no secret that the face of the franchise needs to improve his plate performance if the team is going to get more wins in the second half. Fortunately, Machado’s batting stats are on an upswing. In the beginning of July, he down to a .215 batting average. In the three games against the Chicago Cubs, Machado batted .273. In the series prior to the All-Star break against the Minnesota Twins, Machado batted .474. He clearly still has it.