SARASOTA, FLA. — Orioles third baseman Manny Machado arrived at the Ed Smith Stadium complex Wednesday morning with a smile on his face, going around the clubhouse giving out hugs to the young pitchers attending this week's minicamp.
Each of Machado's past two seasons have ended prematurely because of a knee surgery, most recently a procedure on his right knee to repair a partially-torn ligament. One of the game's best young talents — already an All-Star and Platinum Glove winner at 22 — he has yet to play a full major league season.
But Machado came to the Orioles' spring training complex Wednesday to show the organization how well he believes his recovery is going and how he's ready to put his recent plague of knee injuries behind him.
"I feel great," Machado said. "It's been a while since I felt this healthy and good. My body feels great, my mind is clear. I'm excited to get back out there. I'm itching, actually. I haven't been itching like this for spring training since my first year of pro ball. Just excited to get the season rolling."
Machado hit in the indoor cages, took live batting practice thrown by new hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh, shagged a few balls in the outfield and performed base-running drills on the facility's artificial turf field Wednesday to show the team the progress he has made.
"He looked good," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He's got the governors off … He and I, we talked a little bit. We know where the finish line is here. It's not Feb. 20. It's [Opening Day on] April [6th] in Tampa. That's where the finish line is. Just try to stay away from setbacks. … We're where we need to be. I'd have signed up for it in blood when we initially did the surgery that we'd be sitting here now."
Machado said he has been doing all baseball activities except for fielding balls side to side for the past couple of weeks. He expects to visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache — the surgeon who performed the surgeries on both of his knees — one more time before spring training to receive complete clearance.
"I haven't really caught grounders that much from side-to-side," Machado said. "I've just been on my knees and been stationary. Not because of any problems; I'm trying to be smart about it. I know come spring training, I'll be catching a lot and hitting a lot. I'm just being a little smarter this year with how much pressure to put on my knees, to put on my body. …
"I've been waiting to catch grounders. I could do it. I just haven't really decided to catch grounders. I've just been working on my hand-eye coordination and my glove work."
Part of the reason Machado came to Sarasota this week is because the Orioles want to avoid what occurred last year, when his recovery from a torn medial patellofemoral ligament in his left knee was slowed in spring training and he missed the first month of the regular season.
But Machado is confident that he will be a full go for spring training when it opens next month. The Orioles' first full squad workout is Feb. 25.
"Oh yeah," Machado said. "I feel great. Right now I feel like I'm ready to go come spring training. I'm ready to roll. Finally have a spring training. I haven't had one in a while. That's the first thing that's on my mind.
"Hopefully I'll be ready if nothing comes up, nothing that we can't control pops up. Any injuries. That's part of the game. But other than that, my knees feel good, my body feels great. I'm ready to roll."
After having procedures on both knees — his left in 2013 and right last season — Machado is excited to show that the injuries are in his past.
"It's behind me," Machado said. "Like I told my wife, I've got two brand new knees that I could roll with and do what I've got to do. I think I've passed that stage of being confident.
"I think now it's just a matter of playing games and getting in that routine of playing every day and being on that grind just so I can get that comfort level that I need. I know I'm not there right now with the comfort, but I know playing games and getting at-bats, that will definitely come."
Even if Machado is completely healthy for the beginning of spring training, it will still be a test for him once games start.
"There's no given with anything," Showalter said. "But what's gone on with him, we're ahead of where we were last year with the other one. But we'll see what the competition and different speed level brings. …There's just something about game speed that's different — grass, dirt, somebody wearing a different uniform. We can't get to that level until we get there."
Machado agreed that playing in spring training games will be an obstacle.
"I've been through it once," Machado said. "I kind of already know what to expect and what the process is, and that helps out a little bit, knowing where you're at, even knowing how good you feel. But at the end of the day, once you get out there and you just start playing, that's a different animal, you can't really prepare for that. I think that's where the next obstacle is, come spring training, see how I feel after games."
After the surgery in August, Machado reported to Sarasota to begin his rehabilitation. He took about a month off for his wedding in mid-November in Paris and his ensuing honeymoon in Maldives before resuming workouts in Miami. Machado said he thinks that break will ultimately help him because it allowed his body to recover from a long season.
"Honestly, I think the wedding actually helped me out throughout all this," Machado said. "I think it actually helped me feel better, just taking that little time off not doing anything, just having a normal offseason of not doing anything for a month and just let your body take a rest. I know my body's been taking a beating these last two years with all the rehab and the games and this.
"I think that getting married and having that honeymoon was perfect timing for God to get me away from all this and bring me back to my senses of how life is. Because when I came back, I felt like, I felt like freaking God. I felt awesome, I felt great, my body was feeling great. I think that's why I'm in this position now that I could do what I've been doing because I took that little time off and kind of let my body heal completely."
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