Manny Machado’s latest August slide has the Padres feeling a little too much déjà vu.
Last year, the veteran third baseman limped through the month with a .590 OPS and just one home run. He did perk up in September 2025, but the dip never really disappeared. Now, with August 22 looming, Machado is staring at another rough stretch: a .292 slugging percentage, one double and one home run.
That kind of line is going to bring criticism, and Machado knows it. The bigger issue for San Diego is that this isn’t just about missed power. He’s also been getting thrown out at home plate, adding another layer to an already frustrating month for the Padres.
There are signs of life in the batting average column. Machado enters Saturday 5-for-his-last-12, but the damage has still been limited.
In 19 games this month, he has been held hitless in 10 of them. In the other nine, where he has at least one hit, he is batting .486.
That’s the maddening part: when he’s on, he’s on. But too often, there’s nothing there at all.
And even the hits haven’t brought much thunder. Fifteen of his 17 hits have been singles, which is fine for getting on base but not nearly enough from San Diego’s biggest power bat. The Padres need more than that, and they can’t keep asking Ty France to patch holes in the lineup.
The timing makes all of it more urgent. San Diego holds just a one-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third and final NL Wild Card spot, and the calendar is running out. The Padres need Machado to stop flickering and start carrying the offense again.
In Other News...
Padres Still Face A Real Sung-Mun Song Question
Sung-Mun Song has given the Padres a little bit of everything since arriving, just not much at the plate. In 62 games, he has shown the kind of plate discipline and defensive versatility that keeps a player in the mix, while also flashing above-average fielding and baserunning that make him useful in more than one spot. For a team that has spent plenty of time patching together its roster, that sort of flexibility still carries value.
The larger question is whether there is enough offensive growth left for Song to become more than a limited role player in San Diego. His power and contact quality have lagged, even after injuries and time in the minors complicated his path, but his track record in the KBO offers at least a reason to think there may be another gear somewhere in there. The Padres do not need him to be a star, but they do need to know whether the upside is real or whether his current profile is close to the final product. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Pulled Off A Gritty Comeback After An Early Scare
The Padres had to work through an awkward early turn Tuesday, falling behind 5-1 before settling in and putting together a 7-5 comeback against the Twins. San Diegos offense did enough to erase the deficit, while the pitching side was forced to adjust after an early exit in the opposing dugout changed the shape of the game.
Minnesota starter Casey Mize was hurt when he slipped on the dugout steps and sprained his ankle, though imaging came back negative and he is day-to-day. From there, the Padres took advantage of the opening, with Griffin Canning handling the middle innings to steady things before Mason Miller finished the job for his 32nd save, another reminder that San Diego can survive a rough start when the game stays within reach. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Need Walker Buehler To Keep One Big Push Rolling
The Padres have spent the first two games of this series doing exactly what they needed to do, piling up offense against the Twins while keeping their postseason chase moving in the right direction. Now they hand the ball to Walker Buehler, whose recent work has given them a steadier look on the mound as San Diego tries to extend its current win streak and keep pressure on the clubs around it in the wild-card race.
Minnesota counters with Bailey Ober, a starter whose season numbers have lagged behind the Padres' recent momentum, even if the Twins have had their own stretches of success as a team. For San Diego, the assignment is simple enough: keep the lineup producing, get another strong outing from Buehler, and leave no doubt that this push is still very much alive as the series winds on. [Read more 🡒]