With the loss of Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis during the offseason, the lack of reinforcements to bolster the lineup was a concern for many throughout Birdland.
A prevailing theme during spring training was that Matt Wieters and Manny Machado would return from injuries to help pick up the slack. The hope was also that Chris Davis, while not necessarily duplicating his 2013 campaign, would prove to be better than he was a year ago.
As April wraps up, the Orioles are doing just fine so far with respect to the bats, which is certainly a welcomed sight. The club is currently leading the American League in runs per game (5.60), home runs (29), slugging percentage (.482), and OPS+ (129). Adam Jones is hitting nearly everything in sight. Despite an alarming number of strikeouts, Chris Davis is tied for the team lead in home runs and is second in doubles. Jimmy Paredes has been on fire since joining the big league club nine games ago and Caleb Joseph racked up 11 hits during a seven-game hit streak.
Among the encouraging early season signs is one the related player isn’t particularly known for, but it’s great to see. Manny Machado is tied for the team lead with nine walks through 20 games. His career-high is 29 in 2013 in 156 games and he recorded 20 in 82 games a season ago.
Machado has already established himself as a wizard with the glove and one of baseball’s best defensive third basemen. When his prowess at the plate catches up with his ability in the field, his status as one of the game’s truly special players will be cemented. Having command of the strike zone and laying off pitches that generally don’t result in good contact is certainly a step in that direction.
Machado has been a much more selective hitter so far in 2015. His 4.11 pitches seen per plate appearance is second on the team to Alejandro De Aza (4.19). Last year, Machado saw 3.64, up from 3.53 in 2013.
According to Fan Graphs’ PITCH f/x data, Machado is swinging at just 20.9% of the pitches he sees outside of the strike zone, down from 33.3% in 2014 and 30.8% in 2013. His contact rate on those pitches is 66.7%, a tick above his career number of 65.3%.
On pitches within the strike zone, he’s swinging at 59.2% of the offerings he sees so far this year, down from 68.1% last season and 65.3% in 2013. The reduced swing rate has led to a dramatic increase in his zone contact percentage, which at the moment 93%. That’s the highest of any Oriole except for Delmon Young, who has 39 fewer at-bats. The red-hot Adam Jones is 92% at the moment.
Overall, Machado is swinging at just 39.9% of the pitches he sees in 2015 with a contact rate of 86%, which would be a career-high by 4.1%. The percentage of strikes Machado has seen this season (49.6%) is exactly on par with his career number so there hasn’t been a sizeable difference in how he’s been pitched too thus far, making the adjustments that much more noticeable.
During Machado’s all-star year of 2013, he was the No. 2 hitter in the lineup in all 154 games he appeared in. Last season, he spent 52 there and 30 in the No. 7 position. So far in 2015, Machado has occupied the No. 2 spot four times, the No. 6 spot 13 times, and he’s hit seventh three times.
We’ve seen a shift in recent years with managers opting to place their best hitter in the second spot in the batting order. While Adam Jones will likely hold that title for the foreseeable future, Machado returning to that position in Buck Showalter’s lineup on a consistent basis is one most people would bet on happening sooner rather than later. So far this season, Manny Machado has displayed the type of plate discipline you would like to see batting in front of Adam Jones, Chris Davis, and (eventually) Matt Wieters.
