Padres’ third baseman Manny Machado was removed from today’s game after suffering an injury. In attempting to beat out a play at first, Machado landed awkwardly on the bag and immediately collapsed in pain, eventually requiring help to depart the field of play. Despite appearing to be quite a gruesome occurrence on video replays, the Padres announced that X-rays came back negative, announcing the injury as a left ankle sprain.
The fact that Machado seems to have avoided a fracture is surely good news, but it doesn’t mean the Padres and Machado are completely out of the woods. As noted by Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune, ankle sprains can still sideline players for weeks.
Though the club has yet to make a more detailed announcement about the severity of the sprain or Machado’s expected absence, it will likely be a serious blow to the club no matter what, as Machado has been having perhaps the best season of his career and has arguably been the best player in baseball to this point of the season. Given that Machado has already been one of the better players in the sport over the past decade, the fact that he’s taken his game to new heights this year surely highlights what a great season he’s having. His .329/.401/.548 line amounts to a 164 wRC+, one of the top ten such numbers in the majors. Combined with his usual excellent defensive work, he’s accrued 4.2 wins above replacement on the year already, according to FanGraphs, putting him tops among all players in the sport.
Due to those MVP-level contributions, the Padres are having an excellent season thus far, coming into today with a 41-26 record, just half a game back of the Dodgers in the NL West. However, the infield depth will be tested without Machado, as the club has also been papering over the absence of Fernando Tatis Jr., who is still making his way back from an offseason injury. Most of the shortstop work has gone to Ha-Seong Kim, with Jake Cronenworth at second base. Sergio Alcantara has been acting as the bench/utility infielder, though he’s hitting just .171/.195/.256 on the year and hasn’t fared much better in his career. Jurickson Profar has loads of infield experience but has only played left field this year and is having the best offensive showing of his career. He could be moved into the infield mix, but the club might also be loath to disrupt his groove. C.J. Abrams struggled in his first taste of MLB action but has been playing well in Triple-A since being optioned.
Regardless of who takes over for Machado, it will be certainly be a downgrade. That’s not a shot at any of the other players, but more a testament to just how good Machado has been this year. Even Machado himself was unlikely to sustain that pace, as his .366 BABIP on the year far outpaced his career mark of .300. All teams deal with the challenge of injuries over the course of a season, of course, but for the Padres, there’s no doubting this will be one tough to bear.
I have been saying this for quite a long time. We have seen many players suffer ankle injuries at first base. I remember Ronald Acuna, Bryce Harper and now Manny Machado. With technology so advanced now why can’t the bases be ground level like home plate. Now next year if I understand rule changes the bases are going to be about twice the size, thus increases twice the area to get hurt when stepping on the base. If they can do an infrared on the goal line in football why not something like that in baseball.
It would be incredibly hard for the first baseman to find the bag while catching the ball at the same time without a raised bag. That would almost definitely have a negative impact on the sport.
Stan – I agree. When the first baseman stretches to field the throw, he plants his foot on the side of the bag. If his foot was anywhere on top of the bag, he’d be spiked for sure.
And I hafta say, Machado has been truly excellent this season.
And the Padres have been truly excellent too, with their best winning percentage of more than 60 games in franchise history.
Good question. Just to also add that umps often also rely on sound to determine close plays. A bag in the ground supresses the sound of a runner reaching a bag. Clinics actually blindfold umps in training to use only their ears to practice ruling close plays. Eyes alone can fool you.
Hard to slide into second or third and stop momentum if bag in the ground so bad idea.
Harper got hurt because the base was wet, and his cleats slid. A ground level base would not have made a difference.
And what good would infrared do? There’s 2 things happening there; the ball in the glove, and the foot on the base. Infrared still wouldn’t tell you if the throw beat the runner or vice versa.
@UpUpnHeaHea…I would think one of the reasons the bases aren’t flat like home plate is due to the fact that if a first basement is trying to stretch/scoop the ball outta the dirt and tag first base all at the same time, he will end up tripping the runner anyway. They use the base as leverage so they can stretch/scoop. I think they should at least have first base have the second part behind it…like little they do in little league.
I hear you, but also, runners would wing out and slam while rounding the bases if they were flat and couldn’t be pushed off of.
His cleats slid when he stepped on the top of the base, a little off balance because the throw was off line and he was worried about a collision with the first baseman. Ground level would not have prevented that.
MLB bases are nearly as hard as rocks, and I don’t know why. They swap them out every game so it’s not because they need to last.
But there’s not infrared for the goal line in football…
It doesn’t take technology to lower first base. Just a shovel.
I remember Amos Otis of the Royals during a playoff game in the last half of the 1970s doing the same thing…
A serious impression on my mind.
You can’t talk the simpletons into thinking the concrete bases are bad for player safety. Remember these are fat losers who aren’t athletes and think they know how to run the bases, so they’re like” don’t step on the middle omg!!!”
They need softer bags.
There’s north of a thousand batters running full speed onto 1B every night without getting injured, yet because a few stars over the course of numerous seasons get injured doing it, the whole game needs to change? Seems to be a severe overreaction to me.
If you watch the video of Machado, it’s clear he was having an issue running towards 1B, and because of that he hit the backside of the bag, causing him to slide off it and twist his ankle. The bag wasn’t the cause of the injury, it was the manner in which he ran to the bag.
If it saves just one ankle!
Saw it live and was sure his and our season was done. Now we get to see who gets back first, him or Tatis.
Our fantasy team needs you Manny. Please get back ASAP.
Diagnosed with an ankle sprain
Luckily, it was not Aurora Borealis, which was first suspected, but proven false
Depending on the severity he may be out a long time.
My sister Julie had the same thing happen to her in her softball league. They said she suffered a sprain but eventually would need amputation after the season.
Oh yeah, hopalong Julie. We’ve had some good times
She said I was the only one…
Did they take the entire leg?
He warned us about the dangers of being Johnny Hustle, and we wouldn’t listen.
Reds will chip in some money if you take Mike Moustakas off their hands.
CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES!
We’ll, at least you’re not overreacting.
This is my last resort. Suffocation
Could be a lot worse.
Disaster averted?
I thought the narrative was he didn’t run hard? Get well soon Manny
Should we just lower the profile of first base so that it’s even with the dirt, like home plate? Batter-runners do not slide into it like they do at 2B and 3B, while runners sliding back into 1B after a play can deal with it. Otherwise, we’ll continue to have the occasional player getting hurt. Or, am I missing something?
Earlier comments cover this topic.
Thank you gbs42. I neglected to check any other comments before posting as I never suspected anyone would have the same cockamamie idea. I’ll go back and think about what I’ve done.
What comments? Link that bro.
I’ve made the same comments too:
Yrs ago, Bryce Harper sprained once running in the rain…
Also, Chien-Ming Wang is the poster-child: career-ender.
But Pitchers dont bat anymore lol… Still think it’d help prevent injuries; if the base was “one with the earth”
Next man up!
Well call the A’s about Tony Kemp. Rather try him at 3B than keep Alcantara on the roster. Super Utility LH bat.
Kemp is solid, affordable and obtainable… but we’ll just pull up a hot Abrams or my guy Eguy.
This could easily lead to him being out for a month..time to put in a call for Drury
Drury was being talked about as a trade deadline guy.. so maybe a good call to make to Reds soon
CJ Abrams scratched from AAA game tonight as was #6 INF prospect Eguy Rosario… so Manny likely IL 10 day bound 1 spot ..the other is the 13 P/13 position player thingy..PADS are 14/12 so-1/+1 by tomorrow’s game…CJ gets to play everyday (earlier was used spots) so let’s see how the young man answers the call..
Good lookin out Henry
Where’s CJ play though? 2nd with Cronenworth shifting to SS and Kim at 3rd?
I’d imagine ss with Kim sliding to 3rd. Kim maybe plays ss against lefties?
Interesting that Eguy appears to be coming too..not a big fan of him coming up if he’s gonna play sparingly..
Maybe they platoon? Against LHP Eguy at 3B, Kim at SS and then against RHP Kim at 3B and CJ at SS.
Those guys would definitely need to play over Alcantara. Can’t have the prospects on the bench for him.
The guy who never seems to get injured finally does. Speedy recovery Manny!
Seems a little counter intuitive but I think they should DFA Alcantara since they’re losing Manny’s bat. Can’t afford to have that lack of offensive production anymore.
CJ and Eguy come up to handle the IF and then Rooker or possibly even Ruiz if they’re feeling aggressive, come up to bring another bat. Might as well see what the three of them can do
Ruiz has nothing more to prove in the minors. Changed his mechanics to shorten swing and projects to do well against ML breaking balls. He’s leapfrogged every OF prospect including Hassell and Wood in matter of months. Star in the making.
Ruiz reminds me of Rickey Henderson.. a lot
Ruiz is having a fantastic year, but talk about scouting the stat line. FWIW, Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs says he’s been hitting sub-par breaking pitches for much of his damage this year. That’s better than NOT hitting them, but comparing him to any HoFer, let alone an upper-tier member like Henderson, that’s just silly.
blogs.fangraphs.com/eric-longenhagen-chat-6-17-22/
He’s not Ricky Henderson in body type nor patience as a hitter. The sentences from your link are easily downloadable here so providing:
Eric A Longenhagen: “There’s enough slider chase and letter-high fastball swing and miss happening that I still think that hit tool is going to be below average. Most all of his home runs have come on sliders that didn’t quite finish. I think he’s in position to be a big leaguer, just not their every day CF.”
Always good to read various opinions, and Longerhagan is certainly a smart guy. He didn’t mention his ridiculous speed (leading all minors in steals).
And what’s notable to me is the improvement he’s shown in the past year. He seems like a willing student of hitting and that intangible makes him intriquing. My guess is that he solves some of the weaknesses in his game, especially the swing and miss on high fastballs.
Hassell Jr. is still looking like their future CF though.
@Henry-Watched him a few times, and he reminds me a bit of Soriano..from the stance, to the chasing outside the zone..Gonna be interesting to see what happens when he gets to the show..
I’d definitely like to see Ruiz come up soon..Grisham, despite having a horrible year, still holds some trade value as a secondary piece..Maybe something like Grisham, Lamet, and Snell for an extra bat..Hell..I’d be calling the Blue Jays right now about Kirk, and see if I could build a package around those 3. We’ve got a big roster crunch coming up with Pomeranz, Tatis, Johnson, etc coming back..It screams a 4 for 1 of 5 for 2 deal..
Are you guys talking about Agustin Ruiz?
The guy slashing .181 / .307 / .328 / .635 in a combination of A+ and AA ball?
Esteury Ruiz
.364/.489/.646/1.135 13 HRs 46 SBs in 282 ABs AAA
Sprain is another word for Tear. Hopefully it’s a mild one.
Karma police
Arrest this man!
Karma for what?
Hate injuries to anyone, but specifically to the game’s top players. Mookie, now Machado… This sucks. Hope Manny’s ankle heals well because these can be tricky. Perhaps the Padres can hold ground while he recovers because they have looked so good to this point.
Here’s hoping the kids are ready to go..They’ve got tons of trade capital too, so I’m expecting a busy trade season from AJ. The pitching is too good this year for the Pads to sit on their hands and not go for it..but the offense needs several upgrades if they hope to have a chance should they make the playoffs.
I’ve seen a bunch of discussion from the fans on here, so it seems there are quite a few trade possibilities, which is good. AJ’s the guy to get it done. Plus, that Ruiz kid seems to be killing it in AAA.
I’d hate to see such a great season derailed because of injuries to two of your top guys (Manny & Tatis). As we have seen from many other ball clubs though, pitching is what will keep you in it.
I wish you all luck, man.
Just need to score 3 or more runs per game..Padres are 35-9 when they score 3 or more runs
That sure speaks to your pitching staff – wow. That’s a great sign to keep the Padres in it while these injuries heal up too.
Of interest
Eguy Rosario INF
CJ Abrams INF/OF
Were both scratch from El Paso AAA lineup tonight
So was AA 3B (27yr old journeyman) Connor Hollis 330 .440 .474 .914 who is having a really nice yr
The 13 P thing is +1 position player spot..Many to IL would be another..and Alcantara DFA would create the 40 man spot and a 3rd 26 man position player spot… coincidence on Hollis??? Or is it an opportunity of a lifetime for the 27 yr old
My guess would would be Hollis is just bumping to AAA to fill the open roster spot..
Karma is a b.
Karma for what?
at least he didn’t suffer a career ending torn knee after being spiked at 2nd base.
I know all about Manny’s reputation. I will repeat what someone said earlier. I’ve been a Padre fan since the organizations first pitch. What I can tell you is that Since Manny has gotten here, he has been a leader and the fans love him. He is loved and respected by his teammates. He has been amazing in the community and loves SD. I have totally become a fan of his since I have been able to follow him on a daily basis. I thought for sure he broke his ankle watching it live.
That might be so but his antics were all too frequent prior to joining SD so his reputation will stick with him and rightfully so. He has had some pretty notorious and publicized moments of being a downright dirty player that has ruined careers (Pedroia) and very easily could have caused great harm or ended careers in other instances. He doesn’t get to walk away from being a shady character earlier in his career and it wouldn’t shock me if/when he is involved in another dirty play.
Okay, but rejoicing in the bodily harm of a player is just sad.
I never rejoiced in it. But you have to appreciate the irony of how he injured his ankle after attempting to ruin careers and step on the ankles of players covering first base while he was in full stride the past.
And also if you watch the replay I have to wonder if he was attempting to do the same thing and take out Crons ankle which is why he took an awkward step on the back half of the base. Based on his history I would guess he was trying to do the same thing to Cron, and fortunately he got his foot out of the way quickly before Manny could step on it. Why else was he taking such a long stride toward the backs of 1b, where coincidentally Crons foot was only a second prior?
In review of the replay, I see no attempt by Manny to step on Cron.
Manny Machado was extending his foot towards the 1B bag like you are supposed to. Cron, on the other hand, was in the middle of crossing over the base. He was standing DIRECTLY WHERE MANNY NEEDED TO GO. If you want to blame someone for Manny’s injury, blame Cron.
Yanks for life, watch a Padre game and watch how he interacts with the opposing team players. He laughs with them, he pops them on the backside and they do the same to him. They joke around on the field. I think the way players think of him is somewhat made up by the media. Like I said watch a Pads game and you will see a different scenario between Manny and opposing players that the media would have you believe.
Seems like you have bought into the medias fake news. I bought into it too until I was able to watch him on a daily basis.
Manny has no reputation other than that of a future Hall of Famer and team leader who has been a favorite of teammates and fans on every team he’s been on.
Should AJP call the NYY to get disgruntled 3B/1B/DH/LF Miguel Andujar?
We need to trim 1 P today to max 13 on 26.. Tim Hill for Miguel Andujar ..lets go!
He can supply some Offense in Manny’s absence can be replaced late for D… can move him around a bit so as to keep him in the lineup while resting others as well ..Happy Andujar is capable of hitting the ball really really well… thoughts?
Also as far as P depth..Castillo/ Baez and Lamet all ready to return.. and all P lights out at AAA… Pomz/Johnson and Adams all should also be ready by end of July as well..So AJP is going to need some 40 man Mojo Magic..cause only Contreras (A ball) and Alcantara look like easy dfa/cut decisions..and when all these P and Manny/Tatis are ready..again I am assuming late July.. thats 8 spots needed with only 2 easy decisions ..
Please no Lamet or Adams ever.
Machado not on the IL and walking around the dugout at Petco its just NUTS ..wow just wow!
Second time Manny has had a significant injury when stepping on first. First time a knee. I believe year 2.