Manny Machado has strained left wrist, out of Orioles lineup Thursday

Nothing about Manny Machado having to leave a game early due to an injury makes an Orioles fan feel good, but the preliminary diagnosis is in and it sounds like things could be a lot worse. After receiving both an X-ray last night and an MRI on Thursday, Machado is day-to-day with a strained left wrist, in addition to punctures and a bruise.

That injury was suffered during an awkward slide into third base by Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen during a stolen base in Wednesday’s game. Machado’s wrist got spiked by McCutchen as he tried to field the throw from the catcher. That caused the punctures and presumably the bruise. Machado’s wrist also bent back when he and McCutchen got a bit tangled up - probably the source of the strain.

MASN’s Roch Kubatko indicated that Machado was at the ballpark in Washington with a soft brace on his wrist. Not much surprise that Machado is not in the Orioles lineup on Thursday night.

It’s encouraging that Machado’s wrist isn’t bad enough that they would have him on the disabled list with no discussion - though even one game without Machado puts the Orioles in a bind with a short bench. One way they’re getting around that problem is by having Chris Davis be the starter at third base in Thursday’s game, which is, uh... that’s something.

Hopefully Machado’s injury doesn’t prove to be any more serious than missing a couple of games. Just as hopefully, there are no lingering effects that put a drag on his already-down numbers at the plate. Wrist injuries have been known to create problems with hitting for power.