Under The Knife 6/20/22

Let’s get right to the injuries today, with some big names leading off:

MANNY MACHADO, 3B SDP (sprained ankle)

While the Padres have been waiting on Fernando Tatis Jr to get back from his wrist issue, Manny Machado has been carrying the team all the way to first. The Padres had pitching depth, but the question was whether there was enough offense without Tatis. While everyone has been pretty good, even Eric Hosmer and some of what are essentially freely available talent like Nomar Mazara and Jorge Alfaro — err, freely available ex-Rangers, I guess — have been good enough, but it’s been Machado with a near-career year that’s been the difference.

That makes him going down with what appeared to be a significant ankle sprain all the worse. Machado rolled the leg visibly, but x-rays at the field were negative. That’s not necessarily good; a severe sprain can take longer than a simple fracture, but the question is whether this is high or low, and how severe whichever is.

Less than 24 hours later, there’s no clarity besides the immediate diagnosis, but the worst case scenario is a severe sprain, where the ligamentous damage requires surgery or is simply so unstable that Machado needs weeks or months to heal up. The best case would be a simple sprain that looked (and likely was) painful, but isn’t significantly damaging internally. This is common - football fans can think of Leonard Fournette in the playoffs a couple years ago.

With that broad a range, it’s watch and wait. The Padres, at this point, likely know only a little more than us. It won’t surprised me if there’s an MRI or even further scans, though if there’s significant swelling, that could delay things. This kind of situation is why the system has a couple retro days built in to make the decision.