Manny Machado

 ( 1992 Births ) 

Machado set a new career-high for RBIs on May 8 against the A's, when he hit two home runs (including his second grand slam of the year) while driving in six in an 11–3 victory.

On June 7, Machado charged the mound against Kansas City Royals' pitcher Yordano Ventura, punching Ventura in the face and igniting a benches-clearing brawl. Machado charged the mound after Ventura hit Machado with a first-pitch, 99-mph fastball in the back. Both players were ejected. On June 9, Machado received a four-game suspension for the incident, which he was initially going to appeal, in the end deciding not to. The suspension was served June 19–22, 2016. In his first game back, Machado went 2-for-4 and hit a home run.

Machado slashed .318/.375/.569 with a .944 OPS, 19 home runs, and 53 RBIs before the All-Star break. He collected 109 hits and was named to his third career All-Star game and his first ASG start. Manny went 0-for-3 in the ASG.

He was the second player in MLB history to hit a home run in each of the first three innings of a game in a 10–2 victory over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on August 7. The feat was previously accomplished by the White Sox's Carl Reynolds in a 15–4 win which was the nightcap of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium on July 2, 1930. Machado was actually the first to hit all three that cleared the fence; two of Reynolds' were inside the park. The three homers within the first three innings of a contest were achieved for the first time since the Seattle Mariners' Mike Cameron did it in the same ballpark in a 15–4 win on May 2, 2002. Machado was also the ninth player to homer in three consecutive innings at any point during a match and the first Oriole to hit three in a game since Chris Davis in a 9–2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on May 20, 2014.

On August 26, Machado hit his 30th and 31st home runs of the season, becoming the third Oriole on the year to hit 30 home runs (Mark Trumbo & Chris Davis). The three became the first trio of Orioles to hit 30+ homers in a single season. It was also Machado's tenth homer of the month, making him, Trumbo, and Davis the first trio of Orioles with 10 or more home runs in a month. On August 30, Machado hit his 100th career home run in a 5–3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. He hit the homer in his 578th game, making him the third-fastest Oriole to hit 100 homers. He also became the youngest Oriole to hit his 100th home run (24 years, 55 days).

Machado hit his MLB-leading third grand slam of the season on September 6 in an 11–2 win over the Rays. With the homer, he set a new career-high in the RBI column, surpassing his 86 from the previous season. It was also his 102nd career homer, tying him with teammate J. J. Hardy for 25th on the all-time Orioles home run list. He became the youngest Oriole ever to have three grand slams in the same season. He also tied the MLB record for most grand slams in a season at age 24 or younger. Manny had five RBIs in the game and joined the likes of Miguel Tejada and Jim Gentile as the only Orioles players with four five-RBI games in the same season. On September 18, Machado surpassed his previous season-high in home runs, hitting his 36th, against the Tampa Bay Rays. Machado ended his regular season having played in 157 games, slashing .294/.343/.533 while hitting a career-high 37 home runs and driving in a career-high 96 runs. He recorded career highs in runs scored, strikeouts, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, and total bases.

On April 21, Machado became the center of controversy surrounding his slide that injured Dustin Pedroia and sidelined the latter for three games. Machado maintained that the allegedly late slide was unintentional, and contacted Pedroia after the game. Nevertheless, two days later, Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez appeared to intentionally throw at Machado's knees, missing each time. A few innings later, a pitch from reliever Matt Barnes narrowly missed Machado's head and hit his bat. Barnes was ejected and received a 4-game suspension. Barnes denied the near-miss was intentional: "That's kind of a line you don't cross...fortunately, it didn't hit him, but I think he's got every right to be mad that that one got loose." A week later, on May 2, Machado dodged a pitch from Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale that ended up missing behind him. Machado expressed his displeasure with how MLB had handled the situation after the game in a profanity-laced interview:

"If you're going to f—ing hit me, hit me, go ahead. Don't let the s— keep f—ing lingering around and keep trying to f—ing hit people...It's f—ing bulls—, and MLB should do something about it. F—ing pitchers out there with f—ing balls in their hands throwing 100 miles per hour, trying to hit people. I've got a f—ing bat too. I could go up there and crush somebody if I wanted to, but you know what? I'll get suspended for a year and the pitcher only gets suspended for two games. That's not cool."

On May 10, Machado became the first Oriole in franchise history to collect 270 extra-base hits before turning 25 – only the 30th player in MLB history to do so.

On August 7, Machado hit a game-winning grand slam against the Angels in the seventh inning. A week later he hit his second grand slam of the season. Four days later, Machado hit a walk-off grand slam against the Angels, his third home run of the game and his seventh career grand slam. It was also his second career three-homer game, joining Chris Davis, Goose Goslin, Eddie Murray and Boog Powell as the only Orioles in franchise history with multiple three-homer games. He also became the first Orioles player to record multiple 3-grand slam seasons and just the second player in recorded MLB history with back-to-back seasons of three or more grand slams. On August 23, he hit a walk-off solo home run, the fourth of his career. In all, Machado hit three walk-off home runs in 2017, the most by any MLB player that season.

Machado won AL Player of the Month in August, slashing .341/.348/.690 with an OPS of 1.038. He hit 12 homers, six doubles, and one triple while driving in 35 runs and scoring 23 times.

Despite a poor first half, Machado finished his season strong in the second half, ending the year having slashed .259/.310/.471 with 33 doubles, 33 home runs, 95 RBI, and nine stolen bases. He made 14 errors, second-most among all AL third basemen. He was also a finalist for the Rawlings Gold Glove award, losing out to fellow AL East third baseman Evan Longoria.

After defeating the Rockies 5–2 in a tiebreaker, the Dodgers clinched the NL West pennant. Machado was fined an undisclosed amount for the way he ran into first base in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers. Machado intentionally caught the foot of Brewers' first baseman Jesús Aguilar with his own. The action prompted the benches to clear, and the Brewers' fan base still hold onto an animosity toward Machado in the years that have followed.

Machado was the final out of the 2018 World Series, striking out against Chris Sale to end game five. He hit .182 in the series with four hits.

The Dominican team lost to the US in Pool F, failing to advance to the championship round. Machado slashed .269/.321/.462 in six games while hitting a pair of doubles and a home run.

Though born in Florida, Machado decided to play for the Dominican Republic because of his strong family heritage, including his grandfather who grew up in La Vega, Dominican Republic. He expressed his decision as:

"There was no way I could pass on representing the Dominican Republic in the WBC. It's in my blood. I'm doing it for my mother. I'm doing it for my uncle. I'm doing it for everybody who has supported me in my career.

And most of all, I'm doing it for my grandfather.

Honestly, if he were here to watch me play in the WBC, I don't think he would have any words to describe how it would make him feel. Which would be O.K., because whether he's here or not, the only word that will matter when I put that jersey on will be the country on the front: Dominicana."