Padres’ Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. receive bold ‘verdicts’ from writer

San Diego Padres stars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. have both underperformed so far this year. Machado has especially struggled, as he is currently hitting just .172 to go along with a .579 OPS. Meanwhile, Tatis is hitting .281, but he has only two home runs. Tatis did not hit his first home run this season until May 30.

David Schoenfield of ESPN recently published an article where he gave verdicts to specific statements. Beginning with Machado, Schoenfield addressed whether or not the Padres star is still an elite hitter. Schoenfield wrote that Machado is indeed no longer an elite hitter.

For Tatis, the statement was that the outfielder is now only a singles hitter. Schoenfield claimed that statement was “not real,” however. Tatis is still in his prime and he will likely begin hitting home runs at a more consistent rate at some point.

San Diego was finding ways to win games early in the season despite the stars’ struggles at the plate. The Padres have been much more inconsistent in recent action, though.

The ball club is just 3-7 over its past 10 games. While they were competing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West earlier in the year, the Padres are now in second place with a 35-32 record. They are eight games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the division as well.

San Diego will need Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. to bounce back and get things going if the team wants to seriously compete in 2026.

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