Breaking: Manny Machado placed on IL with fractured hand, per reports

Manny Machado isn’t someone who likes going on the IL but he couldn’t avoid it this time around, as the Padres will be putting him on the IL today. This will be the first time Machado is going to be on the IL since 2014.

San Diego’s star third baseman fractured his hand when he was hit by a pitch on Monday night. Machado said on Wednesday that the swelling had gone down but acknowledged earlier today that this is different than his ankle sprain last season.

“It’s not like the ankle stuff last year,” Machado told Dennis Lin moments ago.

Brandon Dixon has been called up and he’s starting tonight at first base. Dixon is hitting .273 with seven home runs and a .904 OPS with Triple-A El Paso so far this season.

This time off for Machado could be a blessing because now he can mentally and physically reset. Earlier this season we heard about his back not feeling so great when the Padres were playing on turf in Arizona and of course now he’s dealing with this hand issue.

Machado is not performing this season like the guy Padres fans have expected to see. His defense has still been good but at the plate he is hitting well below his career averages.

His career OPS+ is 125 but it’s 83 in 2023 (100 is league average). His career OPS is .829 but it’s .654 right now. Last year through 44 games he had eight home runs but this year he has five through that same amount of games.

“Definitely want to be out there and try to help this team win in whatever way and it’s just a bummer,” Machado said Wednesday. “I mean it’s not ideal for us and we just got to see how it goes.”