MACHADO WORKS ON ANKLE SPRAIN
Activity less than 50 percent but progress
Manny Machado strolled out of the trainer’s room at about 20 minutes past 3 p.m., picked up a glove at his locker and swiftly addressed the reporters shuffling toward him.
“No comment,” he said on more than one occasion, each time with a sly smile.
Before heading down the tunnel and onto the Petco Park field, Machado stopped for a quick hello with Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer, who smiled as he nodded toward the glove in Macha- do’s hand.
“Ah, (shoot),” Hosmer said. “Activity?”
Yes.
Activity, which means progress with his sprained left ankle, at least enough for him to go through a light 40-minute workout before Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“Got it taped up today,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “He told me yesterday there was a good chance he’d be out here. I don’t know how he does it. You actually look at the discoloration, what it looks like, the swelling is down, but it doesn’t look like it feels too good.
“But I don’t think anything with him at this point surprises you.”
Melvin was speaking with reporters in the home dugout at Petco Park as Machado progressed through some modified jogging in right field — forwards and backwards — and speaking with trainers throughout the session. The intensity never approached even 50 percent, but he also played catch before stopping to visit with a young fan who’d won a Sports Illustrated for Kids drawing contest.
Later, Machado was seen emerging from the indoor batting cage, but it was not clear if he’d been able to hit.
Asked how he felt on the field, Machado smiled just as he had earlier — “No comment” — leaving his manager to provide some context as the third baseman attempts to avoid a trip to the injured list.
“I think we get him on the field, run him around a little bit, see how he feels from that,” Melvin said. “I’m not sure that getting a bat in his
hand today is in the offing, but probably pretty soon. We’re willing to sit here and wait a few more days to see how he goes about it, even if it’s a pinch-hit appearance.
“It would not surprise me if that was the case within these 10 days.”
Gift that keeps on giving
Last August, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out his big brother, Padres catcher Austin Nola, with a 96.2 mph fastball, the thirdfastest pitch of his career at that point. Naturally, that ball was a keeper, but it was never going to sit on Aaron’s mantle.
No, little brother made good on his promise to deliver it to his big brother as a Christmas gift.
“I knew it was coming,” Austin Nola said with a smile. “You’ve got to expect that.”
For the record, little brother didn’t come away emptyhanded as Austin Nola gifted Aaron a picture of him walking back to the dugout after Joe Musgrove struck him out, not to mention plenty of good-natured jabs from himself and Jake Cronenworth as the trio worked out together this offseason. Austin Nola went 0-for-2 with a walk in last year’s head-to-head meeting, but the Padres had the last laugh after Cronenworth’s last-out homer off the Phillies’ right-hander spoiled a complete-game bid and sent the game to extra innings.
Aaron Nola will start today’s game against the Padres with the Nola family again in town for the series.
“That’s Croney’s dude,” Austin Nola said. “There’s a lot of animosity between Croney and Aaron. They worked out together and never said a word to each other.”
Brothers, right?
Myers’ progress
Before Machado worked out in right field, Wil Myers lightly tested his right knee on the field for the first time. He paid special attention to stopping and backpedaling. He expects to have a few more days like that before progressing to jogging at 50 percent. He’s already throwing at 120 feet and hopes to begin swinging a bat this weekend.
Myers hit the injured list June 3, retroactive to June 1.
“Yesterday was three weeks and the doctor said four to six before getting (to this point),” Myers said. “So we’re ahead of schedule. … We’re not at a point where the inflammation has gone completely but as far as if (the pain) was a 9 or 10 before, it’s less than 1 now as far as what we’re doing.
“I haven’t put 100 percent on it yet, but it is definitely getting a lot better.”
Notable
LHP Adrian Morejon was placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, opening the necessary roster spot for Musgrove to be activated for Thursday’s start. Morejon allowed a run in 11⁄3 innings on Wednesday and had made three appearances out of the bullpen since returning from Tommy John surgery.
DH Luke Voit is nursing a sore hamstring and did not start Thursday’s game. He had started the previous 28 games. Voit was said to be available off the bench.
Thursday was a scheduled day off for Cronenworth, who had started 70 of the team’s 71 games. Melvin offered a mea culpa for sitting one of his hottest bats on his bobblehead night: “I knew he was going to have a day off this series. I just wasn’t sure what day it was. But my bad.”