The San Diego Padres kept Manny Machado in the cleanup spot Friday night as they opened a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, a small lineup choice that said plenty about where they are trying to get him going. The move came after the Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 and after Machado went 1-for-3 with an RBI in that win.
For readers checking the lineup before first pitch, the interest was obvious: Machado was back in No. 4 for the second straight game after being moved to the No. 3 spot earlier in the season. He had primarily hit fourth this year, but the Padres were asking him to do so with a.177 average, 46 hits, 12 home runs and a career-low.615 OPS through 71 games. That number was not just down. It was the lowest OPS of his career.
The split helps explain why the Padres have kept turning back to him in the middle of the order. Machado has hit.197 out of the No. 4 spot in 42 games, with a 93 WRC+ there, a much better fit than the overall line would suggest. The club came into the night at 38-35, five games under.500 after a fast start, and nine games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. In that setting, every clean inning of production matters, and the Padres are still leaning on the same hitter who signed an original 11-year, $350 million contract after finishing second in MVP voting in 2022.
That is the friction in the decision. Machado is still one of the lineup’s central bets, but the season line has been thin enough that the Padres have already moved him up and now moved him back. He entered the game with 11 doubles, 33 runs, 36 RBIs and one stolen base, numbers that show usefulness without the force expected from a cleanup bat. The opening against the Texas Rangers also paired him with Randy Vásquez, who was set for his 15th start of the season, while the Rangers listed Jacob deGrom for their own 15th start.
So the immediate answer is not a mystery about the lineup card but a test of whether the Padres believe the old order still works. If Machado keeps batting cleanup, the next few games will say whether that is a vote of confidence or just the easiest place to park a star while the team looks for offense.
