Padres News: Manny Machado Will Continue Playing Until Friars Are Eliminated

The 2023 season has been a weird one for the San Diego Padres. They entered the season with high expectations to contend for a title, but with just under two weeks left in the season, they find themselves on the outside looking in of the playoff picture.

Things haven’t gone their way so far this year, but the team has started to put things together of late. It has been a nice surge toward the end of the season, and it has helped keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

However, the Padres have dealt with multiple injuries to key players down the stretch of the season, one of which is star third baseman Manny Machado, who is dealing with a lingering elbow injury.

Machado will be getting surgery on the elbow at some point soon, but he wants to try and go as long as he can to avoid it. He wants to help this team in any way possible, especially since they haven’t technically been eliminated yet.

“I’m going to play until we’re out,” Machado said.

Per The SD Union-Tribune

If the Friars do get eliminated, Machado will then turn to surgery for his issues. The elbow has been nagging him for quite some time now, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better as time has gone on.

“I was trying to avoid (surgery) as much as I can,” Machado said. “It’s tough. We were trying to look at different ways we could try to fix it. We’ve done shots. We’ve done therapy. We’ve done recovery, some rest, and none of those have worked.”

Per The SD Union-Tribune

On the year, Machado is hitting .251 with 28 home runs and 84 runs batted in. It has been a down year for him, but he is doing what he can.

This will certainly be something to watch over the last few weeks of the season, and into the offseason. San Diego needs to make sure they prioritize the long-term health of their star player, especially since they just signed him to a massive extension earlier in the season.