J.J. Hardy is on the shelf for at least six weeks.
J.J. Hardy is on the shelf for at least six weeks. (USATSI)

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy fouled a ball off his left foot on Sunday and had to leave the game. He won't be back for a while, either, as the club told reporters that Hardy suffered a hairline fracture that is expected to require 6-8 weeks of recovery (School of Roch).

Hardy is hitting .244/.291/.410 (93 OPS+) with seven doubles and two homers this season for the 14-10 Orioles. His loss hurts more than the offensive stat-line would lead some to believe, though, because he's a good defender at shortstop and has teamed up with Manny Machado to form one of the best left-sides of the infield in the majors.

The Orioles do have some flexibility in how to deploy their defense without Hardy in the lineup. Probably the best would be to play Machado at shortstop most of the time. Sure, he's an incredible defender at third, but he can be at short, too, and that's what he played in the minors. He has 11 games played at shortstop in the majors.

With Machado at short, the Orioles can play Ryan Flaherty or Jonathan Schoop at third with the other serving as the second baseman. Chris Davis and Pedro Alvarez are also options at third, albeit poor ones.

They could also just leave Machado at third and use Flaherty at shortstop. In this case, Paul Janish is reportedly an option at short as well.

Regardless, the infield defense is going to get worse in the short term for the Orioles with Hardy out.