PEORIA, Ariz. — This should be fun.
“I’ll rest when I’m in the ground,” Manny Machado said dismissively.
“Oh, yeah, he’s gonna get more rest,” Craig Stammen said confidently without even a second’s hesitation.
There should have been no doubt Machado was not going to sit down easily.
But there should have been even less doubt that the 33-year-old seven-time All-Star with a lot of mileage on his body and a lot riding on his performance would be made to sit down.
“He’s no spring chicken anymore,” Stammen said. “And we want the best for him. He wants the best for himself, wants the best for the team. We can make good decisions that way, with that in mind.”
Peoria, AZ – February 22: Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres throws out James Tibbs III #98 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game on February 22, 2026 in Peoria, AZ. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The only reason this is any sort of debate with a third baseman who will turn 34 midway through the season is that the third baseman is Machado.
Playing is what he does.
Before joining the Padres in 2019, seven years into his career and with the first 5½ of those spent in the American League, Machado had never served as a designated hitter. Not once.
After getting past significant injuries in 2014, Machado started more games in the field than any MLB player over the next eight seasons. Even now, after being slowed and sidelined by injuries in 2023 and ‘24, he has played the sixth-most games in the field since 2015.
When DH is included, Machado has started more games than everybody but first baseman Paul Goldschmidt over the past 11 years.
That matters to Machado.
He suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain — as bad as it gets; a complete tear of the ligament — in June 2022 and did not go on the injured list. He did miss nine games, but it was not until he was hit by a pitch and suffered a fractured metacarpal in May 2023 that his run of eight-plus seasons without going on the IL ended.
Later that season, he succumbed to right elbow pain and played just 19 times in the final 27 games, all of those as DH. After having surgery to repair his extensor tendon that October, he was also limited to being the Padres’ DH until the 29th game of 2024.
Last season, he was back to being a virtually full-time third baseman.
Machado’s first day off in 2025 came on Sept. 14, after he had started 149 games. Of those, 135 were at third base.
He had for weeks been talking about being tired and acknowledged early in September he should have taken a day off earlier.
But he was batting .325 with a .904 OPS on June 10. And then, with the Padres struggling during the summer, manager Mike Shildt was reluctant to sit Machado.
In his final 45 games, a span of 189 plate appearances, Machado batted .206 with a .613 OPS.
That was highly unusual for a player who has made strong finishes one of his trademarks.
Shildt had begun musing toward the end of the season that perhaps Machado would get more rest in 2026.
Stammen mentioned in January that he could envision using the DH “as a strategic way to keep those guys a little fresher during the season.”
That was before the Padres signed Miguel Andujar and Nick Castellanos, who are expected to fill in defensively in the outfield and platoon at first base while helping serve as DH.
Peoria, AZ – February 19: Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres looks on during a spring training practice on February 19, 2026 in Peoria, AZ. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller always seemed inclined to go the route of a more regular DH.
“It’s nice to have a DH where you rotate some really good position players through and get them off their feet for a day,” he said in the offseason. “But it only really works depending on how your roster is set up. And obviously, if you have a DH that is performing in a big way, you want to keep that bat in the lineup. So those are things we’ll keep talking about.”
Still, it seems certain the spot will still be used from time to time to get Machado (most of) a day off.
“Yeah. I mean, it may change,” Stammen said. “He could be like, ‘No, I feel great. I don’t need days off.’ But we’ve got to be smart with how we handle him.”
Peoria, AZ – February 22: Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres plays third base during a spring training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 22, 2026 in Peoria, AZ. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Machado did say regarding his playing time and role: “That’s up to the manager. That’s not up to me.”
Everything else he said was a reflection of the pride he takes in his durability.
“That’s what got me here,” he said. “Why change?”
He is on a path to Cooperstown.
Machado enters 2026 with 2,069 hits and 369 home runs in his career. Of the 62 other players to have ever achieved both those numbers, 44 are in the Hall of Fame. Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols will be when they become eligible. A half-dozen others have been kept out of the Hall based on their admitted or suspected steroid use or failed PED tests. Goldschmidt is still playing.
That leaves nine players who reached those levels and have not been voted into the Hall of Fame.
And Machado has eight years remaining on his contract.
It was pointed out to Machado that all those seasons might not be highly productive, based on the fact that even the best baseball players do not charge through the latter part of their 30s the way they did their 20s.
“I feel like I’m 23,” he said. “… I put a lot of work into my body to feel this way.”
But wouldn’t more time off help him?
“I’ve seen guys who won MVPs and have gotten on a cold stretch and gone on the DL for a few days, then come back and get hot, then go back on the DL when they get cold again,” Machado said. “And they play 130 games. So has it crossed my mind to play 130 games and try to win an MVP? Absolutely. But that’s not me. It won’t be me. I’ll grind it out.”
Machado talked with a Hall of Famer he would not identify during the recent World Baseball Classic.
As Machado recalled it, the Hall of Famer told him: “Keep doing what you’re doing. I respect what you do, and not the fact of what numbers you put up, but the fact that you post up every single day. Not a lot of people talk about that, and I respect that. You stay on that same track. You will be up there with me one day. So that’s all that matters to me. Whenever I see guys like that and they come up to me or other peers who respect the way I go out there and I go out there and do it, that’s all that matters to me.”
Stammen nodded his head and laughed.
The former Padres reliever was hired in part for the assurance he has in his convictions and the sway he holds with players — including Machado.
“Yeah, he’s good at portraying the tough man,” Stammen said. “That’s who he is. It’s a badge of honor for him. But we’ve also got to get the best out of him for a full season, not just in April and May.”