Arkansas Online

Machado’s stability starts with defense

SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

Gary DiSarcina was joking with Manny Machado during a game earlier this month at Petco Park.

The Mets third base coach had a prime view as Machado three times in two games made what is one of his signature plays, fielding a grounder as he lopes toward the line and turning to throw practically underhand across his body on target for an out at either first or second base.

“I don’t want to see it again,” DiSarcina told the Padres third baseman. “Sure enough, same play.”

Jose Peraza chopped a ball just inside the bag. Machado took two long steps, backhanded the ball and with his body moving toward home plate turned and fired to Jake Cronenworth covering second base for a force out.

“It wasn’t just that the throw was accurate,” said DiSarcina, who played shortstop in the major leagues for 12 seasons. “It had velocity.” Yeah. He does that. A timely celebration of Machado’s defensive skills could start with examining any number of the 10 outs he contributed to in Wednesday’s sweep-clinching victory over the Dodgers, at least four of which would be considered somewhere between special and impossible by a good portion of major league third basemen.

But as Padres catcher Victor Caratini said, “It’s not just this series, it’s the entire year. He’s playing with heart, and he’s done it all year, even when he’s not feeling 100 percent.”

Machado has played much of the season nursing a left shoulder injury he, the team and those close to him are loath to discuss.

“Just part of the grind,” he said this week. “It’s playing every day. It’s the baseball life. People think it’s all fun and dandy, it’s roses. It’s not. We grind out here. We put a lot of work on our bodies, a lot of wear and tear.”

He has only in the past three weeks been what is expected offensively, posting a 1.026 OPS over the past 18 games.

But anyone who has watched all of Machado’s defensive plays this season has run out of words to describe what he is doing at third base.

“That’s a bad man,” Padres Manager Jayce Tingler said Wednesday night. “I mean, just an absolute bad man. We’ve talked all series. You know what, he was able to just affect the game. Yeah, the at-bats, but what he’s able to do defensively and on the bases and his baseball IQ it’s, I mean, these plays he’s making, maybe some of them look routine, just because of the way Manny does it, but it’s unbelievable.”

Those who have witnessed even half his feats this season might also be surprised to find out he is credited with just six defensive runs saved. That is two more than any other major league third baseman, but it seems low. By maybe a dozen.

He doesn’t dive much, doesn’t fall down. He glides. He doesn’t even look like he’s working all that hard, which might be the defining attribute of a great player. Anyone cooler on a baseball diamond would be dead.

Watching Machado on a daily basis, the impossible blends so much with the probable until it becomes likely.

He is the rare player who can be charged with an error because he is so good.

That’s what happened Tuesday when the Dodgers’ AJ Pollock hit a grounder Machado fielded near the spot where the infield dirt meets the corner of the outfield grass and baseline, 33 feet behind the bag, planted his feet and hurled a throw that would have been in time to get Pollock had it not pulled Eric Hosmer slightly off the bag. It was initially ruled an error but changed to an infield single a short while later.

While the 88 mph throw was off line, it was difficult to fathom the play had even been that close.

DiSarcina spent his first several years as a coach working in the minors and then in the American League with the Angels and Red Sox. He saw Machado with the Orioles and thought he was an excellent player. DiSarcina joined the Mets in 2018 and was slightly shocked when he saw him play with the Padres in ‘19.

“He has arguably gotten better with age,” DiSarcina said. “I hadn’t seen him in a while. I was like, ‘God, he is a good player.’ ”

That was before he saw Machado play in right field, as he does against many left-handed batters. His ability to read batters, field balls on the grass and throw from there has saved Padres pitchers innumerable hits.

The Padres beat the Mets on June 3 in part because Machado ran down a ball Billy McKinney hit off the right field wall. McKinney was held at third with a triple on what seemed it might be an inside-the-park home run — and may have been if not for who was holding the ball.

“One of the reasons I stopped him was Manny had the ball and he was going to throw it,” DiSarcina recalled.

Machado won two Gold Gloves in the AL. The last player not named Nolan Arenado to win the Gold Glove award as the National League’s top defensive third baseman was the Padres’ Chase Headley in 2012.

The voting is done by opposing coaches and managers in a player’s league. That means guys like DiSarcina, who doesn’t pay much attention to hardware but is highly in tune with what happens on the field.

“I couldn’t tell you if he’s won any Gold Gloves,” DiSarcina said. “But me watching him, he is the gold standard.”

Softball / Baseball

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2021-06-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

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