Manny Machado, 31, the face of the San Diego Padres, has finally completed elbow surgery.
Major League Baseball’s website MLB.com reported on Thursday (April 4) that “San Diego’s star third baseman underwent elbow surgery today. The team hopes he can return for the start of the 2024 season.
The exact name of the surgery is ‘a right elbow extensor tendon repair. The surgery was planned several weeks ago. Machado has been dealing with tennis elbow symptoms in his right arm for the past two seasons. It became more severe as the season went on, and he was forced to play as a designated hitter because of the difficulty in throwing.
“We tried to avoid surgery as much as possible,” Machado told the American media in the middle of last month. But unfortunately, the injury put us in that situation. Maybe if I have the surgery, I’ll be better than before, and we’ll all make you better. Once I’m done with the surgery, I’ll be ready for next year, and I’ll come back healthy.”
MLB.com reported that “San Diego expects Machado to take four to six months to recover. That would mean Machado could be back for spring training next year or the start of the 2024 season. The team expects his throwing to take longer than his hitting to recover from the surgery. “He’ll start the 2024 season as he finished the 2023 season,” Machado said, “and he’ll continue to work on his throwing while playing designated hitter.
Machado hit .258 with a .319 on-base percentage, .462 slugging percentage, and 30 home runs while battling an elbow injury. His OPS was .781, the lowest of his five seasons with San Diego.
Machado could have had surgery sooner and lost his season, but he did what he could as a leadoff hitter. Machado signed a massive 11-year, $350 million contract with San Diego prior to this season. True to his word, Machado insisted on playing as long as there was a mathematical chance San Diego could make it to fall ball. Despite his sacrifice, the Padres failed to make fall ball, and Machado went straight to the operating table.
San Diego will open the 2024 season in Seoul. In July, Major League Baseball and the players’ union announced that San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers will play a two-game season opener in Seoul on March 20 and 21 of next year. This will be the first time a major league regular season game will be played in South Korea.
Unsurprisingly, San Diego’s starting center fielder and fellow Korean, Ha-Sung Kim, is the headliner of the poster for the Seoul series. Machado is flanked by other key players, including Fernando Tatis Jr, Juan Soto, and Darvish Yu…카지노
“When I joined San Diego, I never imagined that I would be able to represent San Diego and Major League Baseball in my home country,” Kim said on the club’s social media accounts. I can’t tell you how excited and happy I am to be able to wear the San Diego uniform and play in Korea. It’s going to be so special to bring my teammates, staff and coaches to Korea and experience this great opportunity together,” he said.
One of those special memories will be with Machado. Machado is known for being a supportive teammate of Kim’s since his first major league start in the 2021 season. He helped him fit into the team’s atmosphere and develop into one of the team’s leading infielders.
We’ll see if Machado can get back to full health soon and make it to Opening Day in his best friend’s home country of South Korea.