Manny Machado He has been sidelined for three straight days with a minor right hip flexor injury, but he played catch and took batting practice before Saturday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, further bolstering confidence that the Padres third baseman will avoid a trip to the disabled list.
“I’m not denying it, but I don’t think we’re heading in that direction,” the Padres manager said. Mike Shildt “If he doesn’t play, it’s still in the game, so I wouldn’t rule it out, but we feel some confidence,” he said before the first pitch at 5:40 p.m. Saturday.
“Whether he can go or not, today and tomorrow are going to be very big days.”
After Shildt was made available for pregame play, Machado played catch with teammates in right field for the first time since he was injured in Wednesday’s game at Anaheim. He did not play in the infield at third base. Donovan Solano and Tyler WadeBut he re-emerged from the clubhouse and took a swing on the field with the first group of hitters.
At one point, Machado sent three consecutive balls way over the wall: two to left, one straight into the upper deck and one down the middle in a straight line in center field.
Machado was hitless in two at-bats on Wednesday, ending his 13-game hitting streak (.356/.453/.511). He grounded out weakly to the pitcher as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning on Thursday, but Shildt said Friday that Machado likely will miss a similar opportunity on Friday.
It remains to be seen whether Machado will be available on Saturday, but his performance ahead of the game supports Shildt’s assertion that he is trending in the right direction.
“It’s a total balancing act,” Shildt said, “and God bless the medical personnel, because you have a soft-tissue injury and you need to determine if you can go out and compete in a major league game and do all the things and movements that you need to do, but you don’t want to make it worse by testing whether you can.”
“It will take time, but these guys are really good. And of course you always have to listen to your players and Manny has a lot of experience and that will help us.”
With Machado out, Solano will start at third base for the second straight year and will also play second base and be the fifth hitter. Jake Cronenworth Designated hitter David Peraltawill start his third consecutive game against his former Diamondbacks teammate and his fourth consecutive game overall for the first time this season.
Peralta is batting .154/.214/.154 with three of his four hits coming in his second game against the Padres on May 23. Since then, he’s just one hit in 20 at-bats.
How will the Diamondbacks line up without a second baseman? Ketel Marte (return):
Saturday’s pitcher’s showdown
Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (3-4, 5.44 ERA)
The 26-year-old is off to his best start of the season, holding the Giants to just two runs over a career-high 7 2/3 innings, and then pitched well against the Padres in May, allowing just four runs on eight hits and one walk over five innings in Arizona’s 11-4 win.
Nelson’s current resume with the Padres is as follows:
Padres RHP Matt Waldron (3-5, 3.98 ERA)
Arizona gave Waldron the worst start of his career last month (three innings, eight runs, seven runs allowed), but since then the knuckleballer has posted a 1.84 ERA with 35 strikeouts and six walks in 29â…“ innings. Hitters have an OPS of .531 in that span.
Here’s how Waldron performed against the current Diamondbacks:
