On Saturday, San Diego Padres star Manny Machado not only showed off his power but his serious bat speed when he crushed a fastball deep to center field.
While 99 mph pitches are not uncommon in MLB, they haven’t gotten any easier to hit. It takes a special player to be able to turn on that fast of a pitch and actually get a positive result from it. Many batters are just looking to get the wood on the ball, foul the pitch off and extend the at-bat. On Saturday, Machado did more than just survive.
In the third inning of the Padres’ Saturday afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants, flamethrower Carlos Rodon unleashed some serious heat at Machado, as the pitch ended up just missing the three-digit mark. However, the third baseman who is off to a hot start in 2022 was more than ready.
San Diego Padres star Manny Machado destroys Carlos Rodon pitch
- Manny Machado stats (2022): .363 AVG, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 29 Rs (heading into Saturday's action)
Machado was able to turn on the toss and absolutely crush it to the left-center section of Oracle Park. Many times, when a pitch is hit to the 399 part of the field, the outfielders still give chase because it can be a spot where long balls go to die. However, that wasn’t the case on this one as it wasn’t long before Joc Pederson and Mike Yastrzemski realized it was a no-doubter and switched from a sprint to a jog.
The home run was Machado’s eighth of the season. He currently leads the team in at-bats, batting average, home runs, runs scored and is tied with Eric Hosmer for the team lead in RBI at 24.
More must-reads: