Orioles' infield defense has been golden

ARLINGTON, Texas - Manny Machado makes a diving stop along the third base line and fires from his knees to record the out. A few innings later, he crouches to backhand a nasty one-hopper near his body and starts a rally-killing double play.

It seems to almost become a competition among Orioles infielders.

Jonathan Schoop takes a couple of steps up the middle, makes a diving stop and starts another double play. Chris Davis handles a couple of scorching ground balls up the first base line and stretches to scoop throws in the dirt while keeping his foot on the bag, contorting his body as another frustrated hitter peels off toward the dugout. J.J. Hardy handles every ball hit near him and twice backs up at third base when no one except his teammates anticipated that he'd be there.

This covers last week's games. And it's not a complete sample size.

At the risk of spewing hyperbole like spattered tobacco juice, the fearsome infield foursome is conjuring up memories of the finest defensive units in the Orioles' glorious glove history. Their wondrous leather legacy.

No team has sported four Gold Glove winning infielders in the same season, but the Orioles came close.

Brooks Robinson, Mark Belanger and Davey Johnson won the award in 1969 and 1971, and Robinson, Belanger and Bobby Grich won it in 1973-1975. Poor Boog Powell, the slugging first baseman whose defense didn't get the recognition it deserved, no matter how hard Robinson tried to push him into the spotlight.

The 2000 Indians had Travis Fryman, Omar Vizquel and Roberto Alomar. The 2010 Yankees had Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira. It's been known to come in threes, but could the Orioles complete a sweep?

They're only 11 games into the season, plus two postponements, but they're playing at a level that normally causes lightheadedness.

"It's big," said Yovani Gallardo, who needed every ounce of their talents Saturday night while working six innings. "I think watching these guys play for the short season and in spring training, they want that ground ball. They're excited. They want to make that diving play and help the pitchers out. It's always a good feeling.

"It's one of those things that you have four Gold Glovers out there. Make (batters) put the ball in play, hit the ball on the ground and they're going to make that exciting play for you."

The Orioles technically have two Gold Glove winners among the group, with Hardy owning three and Machado two, nice bookends for his Platinum Glove. Manager Buck Showalter thought Schoop belonged in the second base conversation last summer and he's praised Davis on multiple occasions this month.

Bobby Dickerson, the Orioles' third base coach who also serves as infield instructor, sees no reason why this group can't take home the hardware. Davis would have to unseat the Royals' Eric Hosmer, who's won it the last three season. The Astros' Jose Altuve unseated the Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia last year. Hardy's streak of three in a row was halted by the Royals' Alcides Escobar.

"I tell guys all the time, the separator with infielders if you pay attention to it, it really isn't a lot as far as physical abilities," Dickerson said. "I've had rookie ball guys with great hands, great feet, great arm strength and couldn't get out of A ball. It all comes down to the ability to play every pitch and stay focused and not let the game speed and emotion get you out of taking care of what you're supposed to do, and so many people can't do that, myself included.

"As a player ,I could never get to the point where, when the heat's on, to be able to go to a level like it was 1 o'clock in the afternoon with nobody in the stands. And that's what separates most infielders. And I tell guys all the time, every one of these guys here can definitely win a Gold Glove at their respective positions, but it takes every pitch and it takes the ability to slow the game down in tight situations. And right now that's what we're doing."

Davis may finally be gaining recognition for more than muscle and mile-long home runs.

"I think in parts of '13 he was in places like he is right now defensively, but for this period of time he's locked in. This is the most locked in I've seen him," Dickerson said.

"The whole time I've ever seen Chris Davis, I've always said his feet, his hands, all of his abilities say he can defend at an elite level. It's just been, when I first met him, the first thing I noticed was his clock. He would get sped up with game situations, but he's much more calm, like on balls in the dirt, really exciting-type plays that usually raise your adrenaline level. He's been calm and he's been outstanding."

Davis is the only infielder with an error so far, on a ground ball from Twins catcher John Ryan Murphy on April 7.

"I really don't think the one error he has should be an error," Dickerson said. "It was a hard-hit ball down the first base line and he had to stab at it. It wasn't like he could work his way in front of it.

"He's definitely playing at an elite level defensively right now."

Schoop earns the same plaudits, especially when it comes to turning the double play and making baserunners pay for sliding into him.

"When I first met Jonathan, he was a string bean," Dickerson said. "He was always kind of a lower-half stiff, slow guy, but now he's conscious of that. He's really getting more focused with his pre-pitch and anticipation, and J.J. has helped with that. And even Manny, getting into every pitch, this pitch is coming to me. And when he makes his move coming out of pre-pitch, trying to stay low instead of stand up and work back low. That's something he's doing much better.

"I just think the maturity level and understanding the importance of each play and how a play in the first inning can dictate whether or not one of the best hitters in the game will come up again in the ninth inning. Stress how important it is when you pay attention to what's going on in the game. And he's gotten a whole lot better with that. His pregame work is getting better.

"Wayne Kirby is hitting him grounders now. He puts him through a nice program, a consistent program every day, because I'm hitting them to Manny during BP. He's got Jonathan working really well and right now I'm happy where Jonathan is."

Finding Schoop could be tricky before he settled at second base. He had to change positions to accommodate Machado. It's funny to consider how neither player ended up at short.

"First time I saw them, Manny was at shortstop and Jonathan was at third, but they both were shortstops," Dickerson said. "Jonathan was a shortstop down in extended, but when they broke out of the complex ball in Florida and went to Delmarva, Jonathan was playing third. And, by the way, playing an outstanding third. He was outstanding there. His arm strength showed off a lot more there from the long throws.

"It just shows how versatile they are, and both very athletic when it comes to infield play. They both have great hands, great feet, they're able to find hops. The biggest things, as I said, to win the Gold Glove and be a consistent defender isn't about all the physical attributes. It's about the ability to play the pitch and not let the game get you emotionally in bad places."

Hardy's always in the right place and it continues to astound Showalter and the coaching staff. He creates a buzz in the dugout when racing to third base to take a throw and complete a 5-4-6 double play, and when doing it again as Machado charges a slow roller, spins and fires to Hardy for another unexpected out.

Everyone in the ballpark thought Machado would throw to first or eat the ball. Hardy saw an opportunity and Machado read it perfectly, eyes in the back of his head.

"Are you kidding me?" Showalter said. "I would have liked to be announcing that game. If I was at ESPN, I'd do one of those rips. I'd do the play where Jonathan caught the ricochet and threw to third, I'd do one with J.J. in the rundown, and I'd do that one last night."

"J.J's really instinctive," Dickerson said. "I think he's so conscientious and he doesn't want to be embarrassed on the baseball field. He wants to do things right, so he looks for a place to be at all times. He's anticipating what could happen all the time instead of reacting to what does happen. That's what makes him a great middle infielder, and so many things he does get overlooked by the industry, in my opinion.

"He's won three Gold Gloves, but still he plays at a level mentally that's better than Gold Gloves. He really mentally plays the game like a manager out there. Really into every pitch, anticipation of all the potential things that are happening. He's as good as I've seen mentally on the field.

"Guys will question, 'Maybe he's not the most rangy shortstop, maybe he's not the most athletic, versatile-looking shortstop out there.' But let me tell you, he makes the routine play, he turns all the double plays, he's always in the right place and he's a great leader of men on the field."

So how does Dickerson rate the foursome?

"That I've coached, this is by far the best," he said. "But I go right back to, have I seen better infields physically and athletically? Absolutely. There are some great-looking athletic infields. But when it comes to slowing down, anticipation of what's going on and quarterbacking through the game or looking for trail outs and attention to detail like these guys are doing right now ...

"It's something we talk about. I know Buck's been talking about it since he got here, and I know since I got here in '13, it's something we preach. There's always trail outs. Take care of what you can take care of. For instance, first and second, if there's a double play ball, it's not necessarily a double play ball. It's just a ground ball. The situation doesn't tell you what that ball it. It's still, just catch it, get an out and see if it's a double play ball.

"It's really a simple act, but we let the game emotionally create all our problems. When I say 'we,' infielders that don't go to that elite level, and our guys right now are staying in an emotional state to make plays."