Padres News: Austin Nola Calls Machado's Incredible Catch One of the Best He's Ever Seen

It was quite the play!

Manny Machado has been able to perform at his usual superstar level ever since returning from his first IL stint years and even though he wasn't sure if he would be able to fully recover from his fracture, he sure is looking the part. In the past six games and two series against both the Colorado Rockies and Cleveland Guardians, Machado has been batting .370 with three homers and their offensive production has been boosted.

However, even when the 30-year-old slugger was struggling at the plate earlier in the year, he continued his usual dominance at third base. He has a long history of holding down the infield defense from that spot and it has continued in the 2023 season. The best example of this was during the Rockies season.

Opposing fanbases have loved pointing out Machado's lack of hustle in the past and always criticized him for giving up on plays but let's not forget when he ran his fastest sprint of the year and made an incredible catch after bobbling it a couple of times.

Let's re-live it down below!

WHAT A CATCH BY MANNY MACHADO 😱 @Padres pic.twitter.com/nqV2M9Uyrg

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) June 10, 2023

The entire Padres clubhouse as a whole was heavily impressed and catcher Austin Nola made it clear that he hadn't seen many plays better than that one in his career.

“Not just catch,” Nola said. “Bobbled it like four times and then caught it? And then he had the thought to, as soon as he caught it, immediately throw it in.“That was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen.”

(Via MLB.com)

Machado has a lot to prove this season after landing his huge extension during the offseason and promising that he would take the franchise to the promised land. Let's see how the rest of the year plays out!