Padres Notebook: Manny Machado continues to work through career-worst struggles

SAN DIEGO-- Yes, Padres third baseman Manny Machado desperately needs a day off. The 33-year-old third baseman, who has started in all 147 of the team's games, is mired in the worst slump of his major-league career, slashing a staggering .168/.212/.290 over the last 30 days and is hitless through the Friars' current homestand.  (0-for-16 with five strikeouts). 

Machado, who takes pride in posting and grinding through the various injuries that come in a 162-game season, admitted on the previous homestand that he would have benefitted from a day off, just not now as the Padres chase a playoff spot. 

"It's a grind for sure but at this point there's no time to take a day off," said Machado on September 3rd. "You know I should have taken one earlier in the year, but at this point there's 22 games left and there's no time to sit back and sit on your heels." 

Machado made those comments following a home sweep by the Baltimore Orioles. Since then, he's gone 2-for-33 with a home run and three RBI. 

And as Machado's struggles continue with 15 games remaining in the regular season, manager Mike Shildt was asked if he's tried to convince his All-Star third baseman to take a game off. 

"We're both professionals and it's more conversational." said Shildt. "So I'm not going to talk Manny into anything. I'm going to have an adult conversation with a guy that's posted for us all year. Every team's gone through their trial and tribulations. But when you have guys that are there day in and day out, through those trials and tribulations, those guys are really important. And Manny Machado is the top of that list for this club, and there's a lot of guys on that list.  To your point, he's come out early the past couple days so if he was tired, he'd be sleeping."

"He's coming out and clearly this time of year, I think he's even said it in the past and he's right. Second day of spring training for anyone that's ever played this game at the highest level, second day of spring training you never feel 100% after that anyway. But my ultimate wrap-up point is he's coming out. He's come out the last couple days to work on his stroke. He's coming out and getting ground balls."

"He's a big part of how we compete and he goes through the ebbs and flows of it and we'll continue to have conversations about what his work looks like and what his availability on the field looks like. Those are not constant conversations but they're consistent. And we landed a place that we think, that he thinks is best for the Padres." 

Notable
Padres rookie reliever David Morgan was placed on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation, retroactive to September 9. Shildt was optimistic that Morgan would return during the Padres final homestand. 

"It's the longest he's gone in his professional career and clearly pitching at the highest level and pitching well. We went a couple days to stay away from him but after a while, you can only stay away from guys so much. And so we said, okay, let's backdate it three days and then get a reset." 

Shildt says shortstop Xander Bogaerts continues to make good progress as he rehabs from his fractured left foot. Shildt didn't believe a rehab assignment would be necessary before Bogaerts rejoins the team.