SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - It will be a few days before Manny Machado can run on his surgically repaired knee, and the Baltimore Orioles third baseman concedes he might not be ready for the start of the season.
“I don’t know if I’ll make opening day or not,” Machado said Sunday. “It’s not in the back of my mind. I’m not worried about playing games yet. I just want to get healthy. Once I get healthy I’ll be ready to roll and keep playing and just get back into playing mode.”
Machado had surgery on a torn ligament in his left knee in October. The knee is sore, a development that was not unexpected.
“It’s part of the process, scar tissue breaking up. It’s normal after the surgery I had,” he said. “It was going to happen now or later so I’m pretty glad it was now. Just sit back a couple days and let it heal and then keep going.”
Machado was supposed to have a re-evaluation on Tuesday, but that appointment almost certainly won’t happen because he hasn’t run in nearly a week.
“You don’t want to force it and feel like something else is going to go wrong,” he said. “Might as well just prevent it and not let it happen.”
The 21-year-old Machado made the AL All-Star team last year in his first full season in the majors. He played in all 156 games before twisting his knee while running to first base in a game against Tampa Bay.
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