Orioles’ Manny Machado just got even more valuable

6:36 PM ET

Believe it or not, Manny Machado just became even more valuable.

I know, I know — it doesn’t seem possible. Last year, the Baltimore Orioles third baseman played his usual Gold Glove defense, clubbed 35 homers and was the AL’s only 20/20 guy. He batted leadoff because the team needed him to, even though he’s got middle of the order written all over him, and finished fourth in the American League MVP voting — which, from where I sit (a chair in the front row of the Camden Yards press box that affords me the gift of watching Manny be Manny on a daily basis), seemed a little low.

He followed that up with a monster April in which he either led the AL or tied for the lead in hits (33), extra-base hits (17), total bases (64) and was second in average (.344) and OPS (1.061). He made roughly 3 gajillion head-shakingly good plays in the field and, on Monday, was named AL Player of the Month — which, from where I sit, seemed a little obvious.

If the season ended today, Machado would be the MVP. Plain and simple. The numbers even back it up, as his current 1.9 WAR is tops in the American League.

Just how valuable has Manny Machado been to the Birds? Projected over a full 162-game season, at his current pace, Machado would finish the year with a WAR of 12.8. That’s two full wins more than Mike Trout’s career high and one full win higher than Barry Bonds’ career best. In fact, the last time someone posted a season of 12.8 WAR or higher was 1921, when some guy named Ruth did it.

Manny Machado hit .344 in April, helping the Orioles stay near the top of the AL East. Evan Habeeb/USA TODAY Sports

Pump the brakes? Sure, I get it. The season’s only a month old, you’re thinking. There’s no way that Machado maintains his current pace. And you’re right. The odds of his posting a 12.8 WAR are roughly equivalent to the odds of Leicester City winning the Premier League (oh, wait).

Point is, Machado has become absolutely certifiably 100 percent indispensable to the O’s. And that was before J.J. Hardy broke his foot. Now, with Hardy headed to the DL for six weeks or so, Machado’s value soars even higher. As if that’s even possible.

To understand Machado’s present and future value, all you have to do is look at Hardy’s past value. Last season, Hardy was limited to 114 games because of injury. In those games, the Orioles went 65-49. That’s a winning percentage of .570, or just a smidge below the .574 clip that the Blue Jays posted en route to winning the AL East last year. In the 48 games that Hardy missed, the Birds were just 16-32. That’s .333 ball, or 56 percentage points lower than the Phillies, whose .389 mark was MLB’s worst last year. In other words, playing without Hardy transformed the Orioles from one of baseball’s strongest teams to perhaps its very weakest.

To the casual fan outside of Baltimore, that might come as a …

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