Manny Machado spent Friday afternoon in Seattle explaining why his slow start to the 2026 season was not causing him concern. He was batting.182 with a.604 OPS after going 0-for-7 in the first two games of the Padres’ series against the Mariners, but he said there were still 500 at-bats left.
“I’m five hits away from hitting.240,” Machado said, adding that he was not worried because there was still “a lot of baseball.” It was a strange place for a player entering his 15th MLB season, and Machado said he could laugh at the timing. “I guess I’m lucky it took me 15 years,” he said. “I guess I’m a lucky man.”
The numbers behind the slump are real. Through 43 games, Machado’s.182 average and.604 OPS were the lowest of his career, which made the sight of him in fluorescent green batting gloves in the locker room hard to miss. After speaking with reporters, he began a long batting-cage session with hitting coach Steven Souza Jr., a sign that the work continues even if the worry does not.
That matters because Machado has spent the better part of six seasons as one of the Padres’ most important drivers. From 2020 through 2024, San Diego was 99-19 when he drove in at least two runs, 114-50 when he had multiple hits and 84-32 when he homered. In 2025, the Padres were 17-6 when he had at least two RBIs, 32-15 when he had multiple hits and 17-10 when he homered. Even this year, the team is 3-1 when he has multiple RBIs, 5-1 when he has multiple hits and 4-1 when he goes deep.
But Machado said the larger picture still outweighs the personal one. “We’re winning ballgames,” he said. “It’s never easy to suck. But we’re winning ballgames, which is most important.” He said it comes down to what the team needs and that right now the club is doing that while he keeps chasing hits.
That view fits the player who arrived in San Diego in 2019 and helped turn the Padres into winners. For years, Machado’s production and the team’s results moved together. This season, the Padres can survive his slump better than they once could, even if they would clearly prefer his bat to wake up sooner than later.
The immediate answer came Saturday, when the Padres beat the Mariners 7-4 to improve to 27-18. Machado’s numbers remain a concern, but the team around him is still collecting wins, and that gives him room to keep saying what he said in Seattle: “We’re winning ballgames. I will keep working on trying to get hits.”
