MACHADO REACHES 1,500 MILESTONE
Manny Machado is more than halfway to 3,000 hits and perhaps well past that far down the road to the Hall of Fame.
An RBI single through the left side of the infield in the first inning of the Padres’ 19-5 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Wednesday was the 1,500th hit of his career.
“It’s a huge accomplishment and a great milestone to accomplish,” Machado said. “Thank God I reached it.”
He is just the 17th player in major league history to reach 1,500 hits and 250 home runs before age 30. Of the other 16, all but Andruw Jones and Alex Rodriguez are in the Hall of Fame.
Machado, who turns 30 on July 6, hit his 262nd career home run in the fifth inning against the Cubs and recorded his 1,502nd hit with a single in the seventh.
He became the 651st player to reach 1,500 hits. There are just 33 members of the 3,000-hit club.
“I haven’t even thought about that,” he said. “… Obviously, that’s the goal. It’s
everyone’s goal. I think if I’m healthy, anything is possible.”
No time off
Tuesday was supposed to be Jurickson Profar’s first day off since April 12. But after not being in the starting lineup for the first time in 57 games, Profar pinch-hit for Jose Azocar in the sixth inning and then took his spot in left field. He ended up batting three times, going 0for-2 with a walk.
Profar is tied with Jake Cronenworth for the team
lead with 63 games played. Cronenworth has started 63, while Profar has started 61 and subbed in for two others.
“It’s been good,” Profar said. “It doesn’t feel like (a lot of games). We have a really good team and we’re winning a lot. So it helps. It’s fun.”
Profar, who has played more than 135 games three times in his previous eight major league seasons, entered Wednesday’s game batting .246/.343/.414, well above his career numbers in every category.
“Just doing adjustments every day and just playing every day helps,” he said. “You see pitchers every day, and you get an idea what they are trying to do with you.”
Profar, 29, missed the 2014 and ’15 seasons with a shoulder injury and believes that is actually serving him well now that he is playing as much as ever as he approaches 30.
“My body doesn’t have a lot of innings,” he said. “I missed two years of baseball when I was young.”
A Hill not that far
Baseball players are all about routine.
Except relief pitchers. The only routine thing about being a reliever is a lack of routine.
And one of the ways they deal with that is by not thinking about it.
“My mind just can’t think that way,” Tim Hill said.
Hill is perhaps the best example of what a different season this has been for the Padres’ bullpen as starting pitchers have routinely gone six and seven innings. The left-hander pitched in 78 games last season, tied for third most in the majors. He is on pace for 46 this year. He has gone at least four days between appearances five times already this season, once more than he did all of 2021. And two of those respites last year came in September.
“I just have had to adjust to a different routine,” Hill said. “That’s all. You kind of just have to adjust as you throw, get your work in as you go.”
Notable
After Joe Musgrove
starts today’s finale against the Cubs, MacKenzie Gore
will start Friday’s series opener in Colorado with Nick Martinez scheduled to start Saturday and Blake Snell Sunday. That essentially confirms that Mike Clevinger will not be activated off the COVID injured list until at least next week.
Reliever Ray Kerr, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning Tuesday, was optioned to Triple-A on Wednesday to make room for Ryan Weathers on the active roster.
The Padres believe right fielder Wil Myers (knee) can return as soon as early July. He has been on the IL since June 3.