San Diego Padres Star Trending Towards Being Ready For Opening Day as He Recovers From Elbow Surgery

As he continues to recover from elbow surgery, San Diego Padres' third baseman Manny Machado is reportedly trending towards being ready for the season-opening Korea Series.

The following update comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal, but links to a San Diego Union-Tribune report (subscription required):

Machado (elbow) is swinging with 100 percent effort and playing catch to start spring training, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

ANALYSIS
Machado is recovering from surgery to repair an extensor tendon injury in his elbow, leaving his status for Opening Day in question. For now, the news is positive, with general manager A.J. Preller saying that Machado has hit all expected benchmarks at this point, while also stating that he is "tracking toward" playing in the Padres' series against the Dodgers in Korea to kick off the regular season

That's certainly good news for San Diego, who has taken a step back this offseason. The team has lost Juan Soto, Trent Grisham, Blake Snell, Josh Hader Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and Nick Martinez and can ill-afford to see Machado miss time. The team has added a few interesting pieces as well. There's no telling yet if Machado will be able to play defense by Opening Day or if he'll just be limited to DH duties to start.

Machado, 31, is a six-time All-Star who has played 12 years in the big leagues with the Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Padres. Lifetime, he's a .279 hitter with a .339 on-base percentage. He's hit 313 career home runs and has 944 RBI. He's coming off a season in which he hit 30 homers and drove in 91 for San Diego, which was one of the most disappointing teams in baseball in 2023.