MANNY OUT, COULD RETURN TODAY
When Manny Machado crumpled at first base in Denver last June, the initial concern was that the Padres’ MVP to that point could miss significant time with an ankle injury.
The actual time lost: Just 10 days.
The concern over the left hand that was struck by a pitch Monday isn’t anywhere near that level and yet the fact that Machado alerted the training staff that he was having difficulties gripping the bat isn’t nothing, leading Padres manager Bob Melvin to hold his third baseman out of Tuesday’s lineup.
With a move to the injured list not believed to be on the table, Machado could return to the lineup as soon as today. Melvin could also continue to err on the side caution and use Thursday’s off-day to give him three days off ahead of the Red Sox series.
“We’re being pretty precautionary here,” Melvin said Tuesday afternoon. “The fact that he had to come out of a game with how he usually is … for me kind of signaled a good time to give him a day off. We’ll see where we are tomorrow. We have an
off-day (Thursday), but it doesn’t look to be anything serious.”
Postgame X-rays did not reveal any broken bones, but Melvin said there was some swelling related to the ligament struck by Royals righthander Brad Keller’s runaway slider in the second. Machado remained in the game initially but was replaced by pinch-hitter Rougned Odor in the bottom of the fourth after alerting the training staff that he was struggling to grip the bat.
A year ago, it was largely
at Machado’s insistence that he avoided the injured list after his ankle gave out in Denver.
“He’s a guy with a very high pain tolerance,” Melvin said. “So there’s nothing structurally wrong in there. Could be just as much me giving him a day off today because of it. He’s always fighting to be in the lineup. Maybe didn’t fight as hard today, but hopefully good to go tomorrow. If not, probably after the off-day.”
With Machado out of the lineup, Ha-Seong Kim slid over to make his fifth start at third base. Now the Padres’ second baseman, Kim was their primary shortstop last year, but bounced between third, short and second base his first year in the majors in 2021 and finished Monday’s game at third base as Odor manned second.
Odor was also back in the lineup Tuesday at second base, just his fifth start since Fernando Tatis Jr. returned from his suspension. Odor is hitting .130/.216/.239 over 51 plate appearances.
“I mean, look, these things happen during the course of the season,” Melvin said of being without Machado in the short term. “So to have somebody like Ha-Seong that can play defensively over there and do a great job with it, I think he enjoys being over on that side of the diamond, too, you know being a shortstop and obviously having Odor, who has actually swung the bat pretty well here recently, to play second. You don’t want your bench guys sitting around too long.
“So this is a day that obviously we’ll miss Manny in the lineup, but we feel like we’re still a solid lineup.”
Carlton’s wait
Drew Carlton had started to wonder. He’d allowed an unearned run in a third of an inning on May 9, then hadn’t pitched in three days when the El Paso coaching staff pulled him aside.
That’s not always a good thing.
This was: The Padres were considering a call-up so that’s why he hadn’t pitched.
“They said something could be happening,” Carlton said, “but we’ll try to keep you ready with bullpens. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
Carlton told no one but his wife. On Monday, he arrived in San Diego as the eighth reliever and one who could be used in longer spurts. He’s recorded at least four outs in six of his 13 appearances and had been called upon three times for six outs. Each time of those three two-inning stints were shutout appearances.
“Really getting ahead of the batters and just keeping them off-balance with pitches,” Carlton said of his success in El Paso, where he had a 1.13 ERA over 16 innings and was holding hitters to a .583 OPS. “Just staying ahead and being on time with everything.”