Jones, Machado highlight O's top plays of 2010s

BALTIMORE -- As the 2010s draw to a close, MLB.com continues to look back at the decade’s top moments for the Orioles. Today’s edition: Defensive plays.

The O’s were not great defensively in the 2010s, instead building their best teams around power both at the plate and in the back of the bullpen. But from Manny Machado to J.J. Hardy to Adam Jones, they still sported elite fielding talent that was often plain to see. That the lion’s share of the decade’s highlights came from that trio should come as no surprise. Toss in a few wild home run robberies, and the Orioles finished the decade with a collection of top plays that rival that of any other team.

Without further ado, here are Baltimore’s top 10 defensive plays of the decade:

1. AJ robs Manny with world watching
Date: March 18, 2017

Not technically an Orioles play since it occurred in the World Baseball Classic, but given how it involved two O’s we are counting it here. How can you leave out the most dramatic, memorable play of the decade? We couldn’t. Jones. Machado. World Baseball Classic semifinals, 2017. You know the rest.

2. Stevie Wilkerson -- are you kidding?
Date: Sept. 29, 2019

The Orioles waited until the penultimate inning of the decade to complete one of its signature plays, perhaps the best from any regular-season game in the 2010s. That is high praise, but Wilkerson might just deserve it. Simply put, his twirling, acrobatic home run robbery of Jackie Bradley Jr. left the baseball world in awe, not just because it preserved a tie game, or its considerable level of difficulty. The fact that it came from Wilkerson, a natural infielder who had misplayed multiple balls in right field that same afternoon, made the play even more unbelievable.

3. Vlad Jr., meet Austin Hays
Date: Sept. 19, 2019

Poor Hays. It looked like he had the play of the year -- and maybe the decade -- locked up with this stellar home run robbery of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. That is, until Wilkerson usurped him on the final day of the 2019 season. Hays’ play was nonetheless sensational, recalling images of Mike Trout’s similar grab at Camden Yards from back in 2012.

4. The Fake
Date: Sept. 12, 2012

The iconic, classic Machado play -- it still ranks near the top of his canon of defensive highlights. The awareness, the body control and frankly, the guts, were all plain to see from Machado, then a 20-year-old rookie playing in his 31st MLB game.

Here’s what happened with two outs in the ninth and the game tied at 2: Charging hard, Machado fields Evan Longoria’s slow roller with a barehand. He makes a hard pump fake to first -- knowing Rich Thompson will be rounding third with the potential winning run. Thompson has no reason to think Machado won’t throw across the diamond, which Machado uses to his advantage. The rookie spins the ball back to third instead, and Thompson finds himself hung out to dry. The Orioles went on to win, 3-2, in the bottom of the frame.

5. Manny’s arm, my oh my!
Date: July 7, 2013

Of all the times Machado showed off his exceptional arm at third base, this off-balance, how-did-he-do-that strike from deep foul ground may have been the most impressive. Luis Cruz smelled a hit when he bounced a grounder behind the third-base bag, especially when Machado bobbled it on the backhand. But then, Machado recovered in incredible fashion -- like few besides he could.

6. Like riding a bike
Date: July 24, 2017

Consider this an ode to Machado and Jonathan Schoop, who formed one of MLB’s top double-play combinations from 2014-18. This may have been their best work, as they combined to turn a would-be Longoria double into two outs the hard way. Doesn’t it feel like Longoria is on the wrong end of a lot of these?

7. Machado robs Pujols not once, but twice
Date: July 31, 2014

Albert, meet Manny. And now, meet him again. Pujols learned the hard way that there is little sneaking past Machado at third over the course of this late-July series in 2014, when Machado robbed Pujols with exceptional plays on consecutive nights, throwing him out from foul territory both times. Machado’s second play was more consequential, keeping the bases clear in the 11th inning of a scoreless game -- though the Angels would go on to win on a Trout single in the 13th. Even before Statcast began tracking defensive metrics, it was clear Machado’s arm at the hot corner had few peers.

8. Manny to Schoop to CD, for three!
Date: Aug. 3, 2017

The Orioles turned one other triple play this decade, but that one, on May 2, 2017, in Boston, was more the happy accident of a misplayed popup. This play was clean and smooth, requiring two strong throws, a perfect transfer and frankly, a catcher like the Tigers’ James McCann running from the plate. That’s what the O’s got: Machado fielded McCann’s grounder at the bag, stepped on third, fired to second and Schoop threw a strike to first. The result was the fifth around-the-horn triple play in Baltimore history, and its first since 1978.

9. Oh hey, J.J.
Date: Aug. 22, 2014

Machado and Schoop weren’t the only Orioles infielders who could pick it. Enter Hardy, who won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 2012-14. His value was largely wrapped up in his defense, as he was known for plays like this, when he scurried into the hole to take a hit away from the Cubs’ Chris Coghlan. With Hardy, it didn’t always look pretty, but he almost always got the job done.

10. Another from Adam
Date: June 20, 2016

We began with a Jones play so let’s end with another -- this one where he’s actually wearing an Orioles uniform. This was the early days of Statcast, which can shed some light on how difficult Jones’ play was. It had a catch probability of just five percent, tied for the lowest on a ball reeled in by an Oriole this decade.

Honorable mentions: Joey Rickard robs Mark Canha on May 17, 2016; Jonathan Villar goes behind the bag to rob Josh Reddick on Aug. 11, 2019.