By Jordan Long
The San Diego Padres sit at 20-24, 8 games behind the L.A. Dodgers for first place in the National League West Division. They host Boston for a 3-game set starting tomorrow night. The Padres will be without 3rd baseman Manny Machado who goes on the injured list.
Machado has struggled so far this season at the plate. In 156 plate appearances, his average is .231. Machado is one of the players the Padres expected to hit with power. Last year he smacked 32 home runs. This season the power isn’t there yet with only 5 home runs. He added 19 RBIs.
When it comes to fielding, Machado is their everyday 3rd baseman. This season he was placed at 3rd for 38 games. He has recorded 2 errors so far.
On Monday, the Padres faced the Kansas City Royals. In the 2nd inning, Machado stepped to the plate. On a 1-1 count, Royals’ pitcher Brad Keller hit him in the hand. It was an accident as Keller was trying to pitch inside to Machado. The Padres took Machado out of the game. The Padres won 4-0. The Padres took x-rays of Machado’s hand and they came back negative. Further tests, though, showed he fractured a metacarpal bone in his left hand. He will be re-evaluated on Friday when a timetable for his return possibly becomes clearer.
Machado feels the hand is feeling better. According to MLB.com, Machado said, “Swelling’s gone down tremendously. We definitely have more range of motion today.”
The Padres should be careful with Machado. A hand injury isn’t something to mess with. The left hand is important to Machado because it is his glove hand. It is difficult to squeeze the glove to hold onto a baseball if that hand is broken. The Padres must be smart with Machado and not have him return to the lineup too soon. He needs to let that hand heal.
The Padres will wait until Friday to see how bad the hand is which may give a clearer idea of when he could be back. Machado is hopeful that his stint on the injured list isn’t long. That is the best-case scenario.
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