BAD BREAK FOR MANNY: INJURED LIST
Since a runaway pitch struck him on the hand Monday, the test for Manny Machado is whether or not he can pick up a chair.
The good news is he’s progressed at least that far.
The bad: Moving a chair is not gripping and swinging a bat, nor is a hairline fracture in his third metacarpal the same as the ankle injury he played through a year ago, leading the Padres to place their $350 million third baseman on the injured list Friday afternoon.
The decision was announced shortly after Machado huddled with a handful of reporters after arriving at the clubhouse. He has not been on the injured list since 2014 but appeared to come to terms with the fact that there was only so much he could do with a break in a bone.
“I think it’s what’s maybe best for the team and for myself as well,” Machado said. “If I can’t go, I can’t go. Someone needs to step up and (to) be able to have extra spots on the bench. It’s tough. … It sucks having a broken bone.”
That someone on Friday is Brandon Dixon, who was recalled from Triple-A El Paso and inserted into the starting lineup as the first baseman, pushing Jake Cronenworth to second base and Ha-Seong Kim to third.
With the move to the 10day IL backdated to Tuesday, Padres manager Bob Melvin said the team has targeted the start of the trip to Yankee Stadium — May 26 — as a possibility for a return.
That will depend on Machado’s pain tolerance and ability to grip a bat with enough strength to be an effective hitter. Toward that end, Machado continues to report improved range of motion and reduced swelling, although putting a glove on as recently as Wednesday was painful.
Of course, so was pushing through last year without going on the injured list. But this is different. “I was casting that ankle here last year and was able to just go out there and just run,” Machado said. “There’s a lot of things I’ve got to be able to do with my hand. Catching a ball, hitting. It’s a little bit different and then you’re talking about a fracture. You’re talking about a broken bone. It needs to heal. It’s obviously a little bit more painful. I would like to get as close to 100 percent. I’m not going to get to 100 percent. Nobody’s 100 percent right now, but just try to be as best as I possibly can, to be the best hitter when I get back out there and be the best player, honestly, defensively and offensively.”
Bogart’s ‘different’ weekend
As Boston’s traveling media crowded around Xander Bogaerts in the home dugout at Petco Park on Friday afternoon, the Padres’ new shortstop admitted it will feel “a little different” seeing old friends like Rafael Devers in the visiting dugout for the first time.
The first trip back to Fenway Park next year, of course, will certainly hit differently, too.
The Green Monster. The people around the ballpark. And, oh, those fans.
“If you don’t (perform), they let you know,” Bogaerts said.
While Bogaerts said he’ll likely feel a “little more chill” this weekend at Petco Park, as opposed to that first trip back to Boston — “I don’t know if I’ll get some boos,” he said in reference to leaving as a free agent over the winter — he was quick to stop a reporter asking if the fan base here was indeed more “chill.”
“It’s not chill,” Bogaerts corrected. “We know we have to go out there and execute and play better. Fans have been letting us know for a little bit. It’s not chill. It’s 40something-thousand every day, and they are on our side. We have to go out there and play better.”
Bogaerts was referencing the boos that have increased as the Padres have slipped further below .500. They began the weekend a game out of last place in the NL West and returned to the ballpark on Friday after an off-day followed a player-called meeting.
Bogaerts obliged all the questions from the visiting media, many of whom he hugged as they dropped by the clubhouse, from extension talks breakdowns, to needing Devers pick up the tab Thursday because he forgot his wallet, to what he learned while winning two titles in Boston.
That said, Bogaerts made it clear where his focus is this weekend.
“We have to get this ship rolling the right way,” Bogaerts said. “I know there will be a lot of talk about me this weekend, but we have much more important stuff to take care of.”
Notable
Low Single-A Lake Elsinore’s games Friday and today at The Diamond have been postponed after a gas explosion burned two contracted workers in the home clubhouse. No Padres players or personnel were involved.
• In addition to Machado hitting the injured list, RHP Seth Lugo (calf ) was placed on the 15-day injured list and LHP Ryan Weathers was recalled from Triple-A El Paso. Whether Weathers starts Tuesday or Wednesday in Washington is an ongoing discussion.
• Matt Williams resumed coaching third base Friday night. The second of his four chemotherapy treatments is Monday.