Padres Insider Wonders if Manny Machado is Injured

San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado hasn't looked like himself this season.

In fact, he's looked far from it.

The seven-time All-Star entered 2026 with a career slash line of .279/.338/.486 and an OPS of .824.

This year, he's slashing .174/.262/.357 with an OPS of .619. Those would all be by far career lows in a full season.

In addition to his poor hitting, Machado's arm strength and sprint spreed are both the lowest they've ever been in his career, as pointed out by Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

While it would make sense for Machado to be pacing himself at 33 years of age, Lin also wonders if it's possible he is nursing an injury or, potentially even worse, just declining.

"Maybe Machado, nearing his 34th birthday, is trying to pace himself more than ever. Maybe he’s playing through a minor injury, something he’s been known to do. At the plate, Machado still wields plenty of bat speed," Lin writes. "However, beyond the [.174] batting average, there are reasons to worry that the franchise third baseman might be beginning a significant decline."

Machado turns 34 next month. He's been in the majors since he made his debut as a 20-year-old in 2012.

Machado has logged 1,953 games in his regular season career. He's added another 51 in the postseason.

At some point, Father Time has to catch up to him.

The Padres can only hope that won't be any time soon, as Machado is in just the fourth year of an 11-year, $350 million contract extension he signed in February 2023 that runs through the 2033 season.

Machado is owed over $39 million every year for the next seven seasons. While, at the time, the Padres likely knew they would be paying big money for a few of his decline years, they likely weren't expecting it to be a majority of the contract.

There's still plenty of time for Machado to turn this season around, though.

While he's struggling, he has shown the occasional power, leading the team with 11 home runs. He's also working tirelessly to get things back on track. At the end of a season, Machado's numbers always seem to even out.

The Padres are hoping that happens sooner rather than later.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve got to talk about it: We want to win, we’ve got to [expletive] hit,” Machado said this week. “It needs to come from us, the people who aren’t doing anything. We keep putting at-bats like that off of good pitchers, eventually things will start going our way.”

He added: “We want to turn things around, and I think everybody on this ballclub is trying to do that. So we’re gonna keep working and just know that we’re still in a good position, even though we’re playing like dog [expletive].

"Things will turn around. It’s a long season. There’s still a lot of baseball to be played, and this group in here knows it. All we can do is keep working, and things will change.”

Talk is cheap. Machado's contract, however, is not.

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