Padres News: Friars Get Well-Deserved Rest Day After Long Stretch of Baseball

Nice time to unwind and reflect.

Through all of the tremendous expectations, superstar plays, and classic matchups that the San Diego Padres give us, it is very easy to forget that they are human too. No matter how much time they invest into their craft and how hard they go for a select amount of weeks, they still need a break like anybody else.

So much has happened in this first month of the MLB season already and the storylines have been flooding the Friars' name recently. They entered 2023 as one of the heaviest title favorites and it seems the whole world is now turning their backs on them due to a mediocre start. Opposing fanbases are not really factoring in the new rules, getting guys like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Joe Musgrove acclimated back into the lineup, and the number of games they've played.

Ahead of Monday, which is finally an off-day for San Diego, superstar third baseman Manny Machado looked back on the first 24 games of the year and described what he took from them and how this rest day will help benefit the squad.

Manny "Machado-nificent" at the hot corner! 🤩@Padres | #BringtheGold pic.twitter.com/IVPB2ETjba

— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) April 23, 2023

“It’s been tough,” said Machado. “… We played really good teams throughout the first 24 games. It hasn’t been easy. “It definitely helps us out, gets us into that rhythm and kind of slow it down a little bit." (San Diego-Union Tribune)

Machado himself is slashing .220/.250/.286 and is still doing everything he can to get back to the MVP-levels of raking he showcased in 2022.

Team manager Bob Melvin also touched on his early thoughts from this season and revealed that the clubhouse was prepared for these challenges early into 2023.

“It feels like we are about 50 games into the season already,” said Melvin. "It’s just felt like a blur ever since and there has been no break. That’s not going to be great either with no off day in between. But, you know what, we saw this first part of the schedule was gonna be little bit taxing."

(San Diego-Union Tribune)