Manny Machado Issues Warning to MLB After Game-Winning Homer Lifts Padres Over Rangers
Manny Machado is hitting .178 and still talking like the best version of himself. That is either delusion or confidence. With the San Diego Padres, both can be true at the same time.
Machado launched a three-run home run in the top of the 10th inning Saturday to beat the Texas Rangers 6-4 at Globe Life Field. It was the loudest swing he has had all year. He used the postgame to remind everyone that the back of his jersey still means something.
“The homers are there, the RBIs are there,” Machado said, via Dennis Lin of The Athletic. “In key situations when I’m up there, you’ve still got to be afraid as an opposing pitcher that I can do damage like I did today. You see those numbers up there, you see the back of my jersey, and you’re going to know who I am.”
That is a strong stance to take from a hitter slashing well below his career line. Machado has 13 home runs and a batting average that would have most middle infielders demoted. But Machado is not most middle infielders. He is a six-time All-Star with an 11-year, $350 million contract and a track record that says he eventually finds it.
The Padres need him to find it now. San Diego sat at 38-36 entering Saturday, which is not the kind of record a team with this payroll can defend. Fernando Tatis Jr. has been good. Xander Bogaerts has been steady. Jackson Merrill has flashed. None of that matters if Machado keeps making outs in the middle of the order.
The walk-off three-run shot is the kind of moment that can flip a season. It snapped a personal funk. It also handed San Diego a road series win against a Rangers team scuffling at home. Both things can fuel a turnaround.
Why The Tough Talk Might Actually Help
Machado has been short with reporters for weeks. He has snapped at analytics. He has answered questions about his slump with the kind of energy a player saves for an umpire. Saturday felt different. The bat finally backed up the mouth.
There is a school of thought that says struggling hitters should stay quiet until the numbers turn. That has never been Machado. He talks like a star regardless of what the back of the baseball card says. When the numbers do turn, he wants opposing pitchers to remember.
The Padres play a six-game homestand against the Diamondbacks and Brewers next. Machado has hit better at Petco Park this season, and the National League West is still in reach. The Dodgers will not run away with it forever.
If Machado wants the rest of the league to be afraid of him again, he picked the right week to start hitting. The next 30 games will tell us if this was the start of something or just one good swing on a hot night in Texas. Bet on the track record, not the slash line. That is the bet Machado just made on himself.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
