Machado knee injury: Surgery went "as expected", Orioles announce; recovery to be six months

Following the recent announcement that Manny Machado would be undergoing surgery to repair the torn medial patellofemoral ligament in his knee that he suffered in the September 23 game against Tampa Bay, the Orioles said on Monday evening that Machado had undergone the surgery and everything went "as expected".

The surgery was performed in California by surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who is the team physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

According to the Orioles, the 75-minute procedure involved a hamstring tendon used as a graft to replace the ruptured knee ligament.

Initially, the Orioles said they planned on a 4-6 month rehab. Monday's announcement dispensed with the idea of four months and simply said they expect a six month rehab. If that plays out, Machado could miss the first two weeks of the regular season. Things could go better and he could miss less, or things could go worse and he could miss more.

Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette told MASN's Roch Kubatko that "the goal would be to have him ready for Opening Day, but the real goal is to stabilize Manny." Machado indicated in deciding on the surgery that he thought that would be the best for him long-term, and the Orioles seem to be totally supportive of the decision of their young budding star.

Machado will spend a few weeks rehabbing the injury in California before returning to Miami, where he is from, to continue work there.