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Padres Manager Reveals Manny Machado Injury Update After Monday's Scare

Here's the latest on one of the Padres' most important players.
Noah Camras|
Apr 16, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) celebrats after hitting a RBI infield single during the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images
Apr 16, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) celebrats after hitting a RBI infield single during the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | David Frerker-Imagn Images

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San Diego Padres

San Diego Padres All-Star third baseman Manny Machado was forced to exit Monday night's win against the Chicago Cubs early with an apparent lower body injury.

Machado was removed after grounding out in the bottom of the sixth inning. He was 3-for-4 with two doubles, including the 400th of his career, in the contest.

After the game, a 9-7 Padres win, manager Craig Stammen provided an update on his third baseman.

“He’s fine," Stammen said of Machado. "We took him out as precaution. It looked like he was just going down the line a little slow, came out of the box a little awkwardly. He had a couple slides at second that didn’t feel great on his lower half.

"So we’ll talk to him tomorrow, see how he’s feeling and then evaluate him going forward.”

While Stammen's comments don't make it sound like Machado is dealing with anything serious, it does appear possible he could be forced to miss at least a game or two depending on how he's feeling.

The Padres will know more when they get to the ballpark on Tuesday.

Who Would Replace Manny Machado for Padres?

If Machado is forced to miss one or more games, but the team deems him healthy enough to stay off the injured list, Ty France and Miguel Andujar are viable options to replace him at third base.

Andujar has one start at third base this year when Machado had a day off, while France moved over to third to replace Machado on Monday.

France is much better defensively at first base — where he won a Gold Glove last year — while Andujar is a below-average defender at the hot corner. However, they would be capable of holding down the fort for a handful of games if need be.

If Machado is forced to miss enough time where the Padres decided to put him on the injured list, Sung-Mun Song would likely get called up from Triple-A.

Song, 29, signed with the Padres this offseason on a four-year, $15 million from Korea. He suffered an oblique injury in spring training that forced him to open the season on the injured list. He's now healthy, but has been in Triple-A continuing to adjust to major league velocity.

Song got called up as the 27th man for the quick two-game series in Mexico City. He made his MLB debut as a pinch-runner on Sunday, and was optioned back to Triple-A on Monday.

He would be by far the best defensive third baseman, as he was a Gold Glove winner at third base in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2025.

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Noah Camras
NOAH CAMRAS

Noah Camras graduated from the University of Southern California in 2022 with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in sports media studies. He was born and raised in Los Angeles and has extensively covered Southern California sports in his career. Noah is the publisher of Padres on SI after contributing as a writer and editor over the last three years.

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