![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SUT-L-Padres-Dodgers-0612-019.jpg\")
San Diego Padres\u2019 Manny Machado attempts to throw out Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 Freddie Freeman during the sixth inning at Petco Park on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\nThe topic was having the mindset it takes to play play virtually every game in a Major League Baseball season.<\/p>\n
Manny Machado\u2019s initial simple contribution to the conversation:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is who he had been.<\/p>\n
And while it could in a way be argued it was who he was most of all during the past two seasons, as he played through the pain in his elbow that caused one season to start poorly after the previous one ended painfully, he is definitely that guy again.<\/p>\n
And, with his 33rd birthday coming Sunday, it is perhaps more impressive than ever.<\/p>\n
Machado in 2023 and \u201824 started fewer games in the field than in any two-year stretch of his career, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. But now he is back to standing and diving and running around at third base almost every game while doing all that is required of him at a high level.<\/p>\n
San Diego Padres\u2019 Manny Machado attempts to throw out Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 Freddie Freeman during the sixth inning at Petco Park on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Machado is the only player on the Padres to have started every game this season \u2014 78 at third base and eight as the designated hitter.<\/p>\n
He is one of seven MLB players, not including those whose primary role is DH, to have started every game. He is older than all but four other players that have started at least 78 games in the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t even noticed, honestly,\u201d Machado said Wednesday night when asked the significance of being in the lineup every day this season. \u201cIt\u2019s just how I\u2019m built. Just go out there and grind. Just play. I love this game. That\u2019s all I know how to do. So anytime I can go out there and put on the uniform and try to get a hit \u2014 right now, I\u2019m not getting many hits, but that\u2019s the fun part about it, the grind and the work you put into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite having gone 6-for-43 over his past 11 games, Machado is batting .289 with an .822 OPS. He also leads the Padres with 50 RBIs and 21 doubles and is tied for second with 13 home runs.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, he was named the starting third baseman on the National League All-Star team. And it is likely that in the days before he heads to his seventh All-Star game, he is going to make history.<\/p>\n
Machado is five hits away from becoming the 268th player in major league history to reach 2,000 hits.<\/p>\n
Last month, he became the 103rd player to reach 350 home runs and is now one of 94 players with 355.<\/p>\n
With five more hits, Machado will become the 12th player to reach 2,000 hits and 350 home runs by his age-32 season. Of the 11 men who have done it, eight are in the Hall of Fame. Two more will be in Cooperstown when they become eligible. And Alex Rodriguez almost certainly would have been had he not been linked to PED use.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2k350.png\")
<\/p>\n
As he approaches this milestone, one that signifies he is on a Hall of Fame track, there has been a natural focus on Machado\u2019s ability to hit.<\/p>\n
But perhaps an overlooked ability that has enabled him to reach these monumental marks this early in his career is his durability.<\/p>\n
Machado debuted in the major leagues on Aug. 9, 2012, 34 days after his 20th birthday. So it helps that he started so early.<\/p>\n
But after playing 156 games in 2013, he underwent a significant surgery (a medial patellofemoral ligament repair) on his right knee at the end of that season, began the \u201814 season late because of it and then had the same surgery on his left knee in August of that year.<\/p>\n
There could be at that point no way to predict he would start more games in the field than any other player in the major leagues from 2015 through 2022.<\/p>\n
But that is what Machado did.<\/p>\n
In the \u201822 season that he missed just nine games (without going on the injured list) after suffering a severe tear in his left ankle in mid-June. He struggled at the plate for about a month before essentially carrying the Padres into the postseason by hitting .313 with a .952 OPS in the season\u2019s final 55 games.<\/p>\n
Machado\u2019s streak of avoiding the injured list ended after eight years, when a pitch fractured a bone in his left hand in May of 2023. He missed just 14 games but by midseason was dealing with what turned out to be a tear in his right elbow extensor tendon. He could play no more than a few days in a row by mid-September, at which point he had been exclusively serving as the DH for a few weeks.<\/p>\n
He had surgery in October and, while still recovering, served solely as the Padres\u2019 DH the first 30 games of 2024. The discomfort in his elbow continued into mid-June, and he said he was never 100% until the offseason. But after one of the worst starts to his career, Machado hit .298 with a .904 OPS over the season\u2019s final 83 games and was again one of the biggest reasons the Padres made the postseason.<\/p>\n
He started all but one game in that closing span and played third base in 57 of his final 63 starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at him now and then looking back at last year and realizing what the hell he grinded through to play as much as he did last year, that was awesome,\u201d Padres third base coach and infield coach Tim Leiper said. \u201cAnd with no bitching and complaining. He willed himself out there last year. It\u2019s so admirable to watch guys go out and grind every single day and to be in the lineup and do what it takes to get out there. That\u2019s so understated with him. He doesn\u2019t want to make a big deal of it, because it\u2019s just the way he was brought up. But it\u2019s admirable, it makes your team better. It\u2019s just impressive. And it\u2019s kind of a lost art in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SUT-L-padres-0621-05.jpg\")
San Diego Padres\u2019 Manny Machado holds up his right hand as he runs the bases after hitting a home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Friday, June 20, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo\/Tony Ding)<\/p>\n
This season, Machado is on pace to start 147 games in the field, something he has not done since starting 154 between shortstop and third base in 2019, his first season with the Padres.<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t given much thought to that total or the idea he could start 162 games this season.<\/p>\n
He would rather not.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really care,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t even think it\u2019s worth it. I\u2019d rather be healthy for the postseason at that point. If we\u2019re fighting towards the end, I\u2019m gonna have to do it. So hopefully we can put ourselves in a good situation where I can take a few days before that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Machado has for years dodged questions about the specifics of his rest and recovery routine, though it is known to involve not only extensive work with the Padres medical staff but his own expensive equipment and people he employs to help him at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a mentality,\u201d manager Mike Shildt said. \u201cManny has a mentality that says \u2018I can play, and I\u2019m going to take care of myself, and I\u2019ve learned how to take care of myself to go play.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Machado said \u201cthere will be a time\u201d to appreciate what he has done. For now, he doesn\u2019t look back.<\/p>\n
But he is willing to look forward.<\/p>\n
He is one of \u2014 at most \u2013 three active players with a chance to reach 3,000 hits.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers\u2019 Freddie Freeman, who will turn 36 in September, leads all active players with 2,353 hits as of Thursday. The Astros\u2019 Jose Altuve, who turned 35 in May, is right behind at 2,313.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/active.png\")
<\/p>\n
Many believe the way the game is going \u2014 with the seemingly irreversible trend of hitting becoming more difficult as pitchers throw harder and spin more \u2014 that no one will ever become the 34th man with 3,000 hits.<\/p>\n
Machado aims to find out if that next 1,000 is possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, that\u2019s the goal,\u201d he said. \u201cYeah, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
That will take him continuing to figure out how to get the most out of his body in order to play a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here for eight more years,\u201d he said, referring to a contract that runs through 2033. \u201cSo there ain\u2019t no stopping until that\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The topic was having the mindset it takes to play play virtually every game in a Major League…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1370,1266,3549,1306,7264,62,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-36391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-san-diego-padres","15":"tag-sandiego","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-top-stories-sdut","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114791570717767667","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}