True stretch cage stretches
Tests revealed enough progress in his healing to allow for that, but the work is limited and his return is not considered imminent. It isn’t known when he will be back, but it will not be the end of May when he is eligible to come off the 60-day IL.įranchy Cordero, out since early April with a right elbow sprain, has begun hitting in the cage. Travis Jankowski’s fractured wrist is not healing as fast as anticipated. It’s always been.”Īn additional benefit to calling up catcher Austin Allen is it provides a left-handed bat, of which the Padres have just four.īecause the two rehabbing outfielders who bat from the left side are not close to returning. I put myself in a deep hole, and it was tough to get out of it searching. Sometimes you’re going to win, and sometimes you’re going to lose. “I learned you start searching for things, you put yourself in a hole,” he said. He’s not into crunching numbers, doesn’t digest angles and metrics and trends. I just stay doing what I’ve always done, stick to my strengths. So I don’t pay attention to any of that stuff. But at the end of the day, you can take 1,000 swings and still go 0-for-30. The more you swing, the more feel you have. It is not unusual for him to be among those taking early batting practice, regular batting practice and then hitting again in the cage before games. In addition to his career numbers suggesting he will eventually produce in a big way, the Padres have been comforted during Machado’s relatively slow start by witnessing how hard he works. You know that nonchalance with which Machado plays that is by no means lackadaisical? It applies here. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Machado said. He has swung and missed 10.5 percent of the time in the past 14 games, compared with 16.3 percent in his first 25 games. He struck out once every 3.9 plate appearances before that.
His two strikeouts Saturday gave him 11 in his 62 plate appearances since April 27, a rate of once every 5.6 plate appearances.
He had hit just 23 of the first 63 balls he put in play that hard.Īlso in the 14-game stretch that began April 27, Machado has hit 11 line drives, compared with 16 in his first 25 games. His single in Saturday’s sixth inning, on a ground ball at 96.5 mph, was the 26 th time he has hit a ball that hard among the 47 balls he’s put in play over the past 14 games. 250/.323/.432 with eight home runs and three doubles, among the lowest 39-game numbers in the six seasons he has started on opening day.īut the signs are there that he is beginning to get into the groove that saw him average 32 home runs and post an.