Amid the Padres’ skid, Manny Machado has a request: ‘Get the analytics out of the way’

SAN DIEGO — A day after he saw nine consecutive four-seam fastballs during the San Diego Padres’ ninth loss in 10 games, Manny Machado did not want to rehash an unusual sequence against Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. The star third baseman opted instead to express confidence in his scuffling team before weighing in on the state of a sport inundated with advanced metrics.

“I’ve noticed 15 years of a lot of fastballs,” Machado, 33, said Friday. “When I came up, it was 91, 92, 93 (mph) maybe. Now it’s just 101.

“The game’s evolving, man. It’s definitely getting harder to play. It’s definitely getting more strategic,” Machado said. “I just wish we can get the analytics out of the way. I think there’s too many stats out there. Too many stats, way too many numbers. I don’t even know half of the stuff that goes up there. I look at the board sometimes, and I even ask some of the guys, like, ‘What is WCCVBB, whatever it is? What are these names that are being created?’ I mean, it’s just crazy to even keep up with.”

Machado entered Friday’s series opener against the New York Mets with the National League’s lowest qualifying batting average (.174) and a team-high 10 home runs. The latest of those home runs came Thursday when, after twice striking out looking at a Wheeler fastball, Machado crushed an 0-2 four-seamer from the Phillies starter.

That was mashed. pic.twitter.com/wQvHTCd1yC

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 4, 2026

That shot and another homer, by center fielder Jackson Merrill, drove in all of San Diego’s runs in a 6-4 loss. Among all major-league teams, the Padres rank last or next-to-last in runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. While all of their stars have failed to hit near their career norms, Machado has attracted heightened scrutiny as a clubhouse leader in the fourth year of an 11-year, $350 million contract extension.

Machado was clearly aware when he met with reporters Friday afternoon.

“You guys have all been talking about it, have all been negative about everything we’ve been doing, and we already know what we’ve been doing. We haven’t really been playing well. I mean, it’s plain and simple,” said Machado, who told reporters after Thursday’s defeat that the Padres were playing like “dogs—.” “Just got to stay positive and go forward. I think we’re all better than what we’ve been playing. You know, this isn’t going to last for a long time.

“Right now, we’re just losing some ballgames. But we know that at the end of the year we’re going to be where we want to be.”

Machado was then asked about the string of fastballs he saw Thursday. The matchup with Wheeler began with a pair of three-pitch strikeouts and the infielder swinging at only one pitch. It ended with Machado — who some evaluators believe has lost bat speed this season — blasting a center-cut heater for his first career home run off Wheeler, a three-time All-Star.

“I don’t remember that. That was yesterday,” Machado said. “I’m trying to worry about today.”

Machado went on to note the game’s evolution in terms of velocity. Moments later, he questioned the value of the metrics that have spread from big-league clubhouses to ballpark video boards.

“It’s crazy, dude,” Machado said. “I mean, the pitching stuff, like FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) or something like that, right?”

Surrounded by data, how does Machado attempt to simplify things?

“It goes back to old-school stuff, man,” he said. “Just see the ball and hit the ball.

“At the end of the day, it’s about competing. You got to go out there and compete and take away all those analytics, take everything you could possibly think of, and go out there and try to catch the ball and make more outs, right? … It’s about a team game. Play good defense, you win a ballgame. You make one more run than the other team, you win a ballgame. So, that’s what we’re trying to do here.”

Over the past decade, the Padres have increasingly invested in analytics and technology. Still, under longtime general manager A.J. Preller, they remain a largely scouting-driven organization. That approach has yielded four postseason appearances in six seasons. Aside from the 2024 regular season, it has also failed to produce a consistently productive offense.

Machado was asked if he had seen the Padres’ younger players being overloaded with information.

“I don’t know,” Machado said. “Maybe they’re just used to it because they come up with it. But yeah, I mean, it’s out there. Some guys love Twitter. They love all that stuff that’s out there and read about it, think about it, or whatever they do. And yeah, you could get drained up into it. I don’t know if any of our guys in here do it, but yeah, it’s definitely out there.”