If the appeal process can be extended long enough, expect June 25 to be the key date for Manny Machado's impending suspension by Major League Baseball. The Orioles have a day-night doubleheader with the Tampa Bay Rays that day, and it will present some options as they prepare to play games without their best player.
Around the same time, manager Buck Showalter will have an opportunity to juggle his starting rotation in such a way that he can avoid using a fifth starter at least twice before the All-Star break July 11-14.
The Orioles undoubtedly will use right-hander Yordano Ventura's nine-game suspension in an appeal to get at least one day lopped off Machado's pending four-game sentence. As a starting pitcher, Ventura would have to miss no more than one start for the Kansas City Royals, and the Orioles likely will argue that four games for Machado, given all the circumstances, is excessive.
