The San Diego Padres are hungry heading into the 2025 season after a disappointing NLDS loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, and that quest gets underway today against the Seattle Mariners in the spring training opener.
Star third baseman Manny Machado has been one of the best players in baseball for a number of years now, and he is wasting no time getting going and rounding into form this season. On Friday, Machado crushed the first pitch he saw out into center field for a home run.
Manny’s first pitch, Manny’s first home run
pic.twitter.com/8iwwUS5egC
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) February 21, 2025
The two-run shot gave the Padres a 2-0 lead in the first inning, and San Diego is now up 5-1 on the Mariners as they get their season underway.
Padres fans will be hoping that this is a sign of things to come for Machado, who has the power to be among the best hitters in the world in any given year. Last season, Machado earned a Silver Slugger Award following a season where he hit .275 with 29 home runs and 105 RBIs with a 120 OPS+. That was his second Silver Slugger to go with a pair of Gold Gloves in his career, so Machado can get it done in all phases of the game.
The Padres will feel like they have a chance to compete for a championship this season after pushing the Dodgers to the brink last season. Despite losing in the Division Series, the Padres were the team that pushed the eventual World Series champions the hardest during the postseason, so they would be justified to think that they could have lifted the trophy at the end of the season with a few breaks going the other way.
Machado can go a long way towards helping the Padres achieve that goal if he can keep up his form of the last few seasons. He has recorded 100 or more RBIs in three of the last four seasons and finished second in the NL MVP race in 2022, so he has been one of the most consistent forces on the team for years. If that keeps up, watch out for a big year from Machado and the Padres.
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