San Diego Padres star third baseman Manny Machado could be missing some time with an ankle injury. Who could replace him in the short term?
In the first inning of Sunday’s game against the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres’ third baseman and early NL MVP candidate Manny Machado suffered a left ankle sprain, which is better than what the injury initially looked like.
However, Machado, who was second in the NL in both batting average and on-base percentage entering Sunday, will likely miss some time, even if just for a few days.
While he’s out, here are three short-term replacements for Machado at third base.
San Diego Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim could replace Manny Machado in the short-term
San Diego Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim is already on the 26-man roster and has seen some time at third base.
In 2022, he has mainly played shortstop since Fernando Tatis Jr. has yet to play in a game but Kim has played in parts of 12 games at third base, including late in the game on Sunday.
He is hitting .222/.309/.353 on the season with four home runs and 23 RBI, which is a far cry from Machado (.328/.400/.545 with 12 homers and 46 RBI).
If Kim moved to third, prospect C.J. Abrams (MLB.com’s #9 overall prospect) would likely be recalled from Triple-A to play shortstop.
Padres infielder Sergio Alcántara
Last month, the San Diego Padres claimed infielder Sergio Alcántara off of waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has not exactly been Machado at the plate but has played some third base, though.
Alcántara has only hit .129/.176/.129 with the Padres in 31 plate appearances after he hit .189/.200/.321 with Arizona in 53 plate appearances so he would be much better for a few game stint. He hasn’t shown that he should be Machado’s replacement if he will be missing more time than that.
Padres Triple-A infielder Eguy Rosario
Eguy Rosario is with Triple-A El Paso right now but the Padres could call him up to make his MLB debut if Machado requires an IL stint.
Rosario, 22, is the Padres’ #6 prospect, according to MLB.com, and he can play third base as well as second and shortstop. Entering Sunday, Rosario had played in 61 games at the Triple-A level and he was hitting .261/.344/.452 with nine home runs and 29 RBI.
While he hasn’t made his MLB debut yet, he is already on San Diego’s 40-man roster so Rosario could simply be called up with a 26-man roster move, not a 40-man roster move.