Padres pregame: Manny Machado back from paternity leave, at third base for the first time

Jackson Merrill stopped briefly at his locker Friday afternoon. Long enough to hastily throw on his shoes, grab a bat and defer any and all questions about his right groin tightness to Padres manager Mike Shildt . The agitation was clear and a stark contrast to a smiling Manny Machado holding court moments earlier on the other side of the clubhouse as a proud new father and, for the first time this season, a fully functional third baseman.

At least to start a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies .

“I’ve done something my entire life,” Machado said before Friday’s 6:40 p.m. first pitch. “When you don’t do it for a good amount of time, it’s always a little bit different, but it’s playing baseball. For me, that’s what’s playing baseball: going out there, enjoying yourself, being out there on the field with my teammates, taking a round, being able to do different things and get ready for the next inning.

“It’s always fun to be on my feet for a little bit. I’m excited for that.”

The elbow injury that required offseason surgery relegated Machado to DH duty the final month of the 2023 season and to start this season. He’d been trending toward returning to the field toward the end of April and was at Petco Park on Wednesday and Thursday while on paternity leave to continue to prepare for Friday’s start at third base.

Machado also watched almost every minute of every game, often with wife Yainee beating him to the punch on switching over the content on their i-Pad. It is Machado’s wish to keep the details of the birth of his first child, a son, private, other than to say everyone is healthy, home and happy.

“Just excited to get back with my second family,” Machado said in reference to rejoining the Padres on Friday. “ … He’s healthy and he’s good and we’re excited and she’s definitely excited for me to get back out here to continue to play.”

Machado’s schedule to start is likely an on-and-off routine as he’ll likely DH on Saturday as he gets his legs under him.

Merrill’s status is also touch and go as the Padres were using Friday’s pregame activity to determine his availability off the bench. Merrill said he was good to go after Thursday’s finale in Denver, but the Padres are exercising extreme caution with their 21-year-old center fielder, whether he likes it or not.

“I’m so happy he’s kind of pounding the table to be in there,” Shildt said. “ … Give me a guy that wants to be on the field, wants to compete. I’ll deal with all the fallout from that every day.”

Shildt added: “I love the fact that it looks likes like we’re getting this behind us, but I want to make sure it’s behind us because I don’t want to look up and do something that’s not smart and prudent and have a guy out that’s a big part of our club for an extended period of time. We’ll see what his availability is today, but … it’s trending upward.”

With Machado back at third base, Graham Pauley is starting at designated hitter and in the eight-hole, wedged between catcher Luis Campusano and Jose Azocar getting the start in center field.

Here is the Phillies’ lineup:

Roster moves

Machado’s return from the paternity list was coupled with the Padres’ optioning infielder Matthew Batten back to Triple-A El Paso. The Padres also optioned out right-hander Randy Vásquez , Thursday’s spot-starter, for right-hander Jeremiah Estrada , a move that will deepen the bullpen before the Padres need a fifth starter again on Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds.

Yu Darvish (neck) could return from the injured list for that start or it could go to right-hander Jhony Brito , who has thrown 5⅓ scoreless innings over his last two appearances behind Vásquez.

“That lines up as a possibility,” Shildt said. “But everything … is on the table. The proverbial TBD.”

Claimed from the Cubs in November, the 25-year-old Estrada had struck out 20 batters against three walks over 8⅔ innings (2.08 ERA) with El Paso. He was 3-for-3 in save chances.

Friday's pitching matchup

Phillies RHP Aaron Nola (3-1, 3.16 ERA)

Former Padres catcher Austin Nola’s younger brother, who signed a seven-year, $172 million deal to stay in Philadelphia, has thrown three straight quality starts and has a 1.67 ERA in four starts since his poor first start (4⅓ IP, 6 ER). The Padres knocked around the younger Nola in the 2022 NLCS meeting (4⅔ IP, 11.57 ERA), but he has a 3.11 ERA in eight regular-season matchups with San Diego.

Nola has held Machado to one hit, one walk and one RBI in 14 plate appearances (three strikeouts). Here is how he's fared against the rest of the active Padres:

Padres RHP Joe Musgrove (3-2, 5.74 ERA)

He’s coming off his longest start of the season (7 IP, 3 ER) and has quality starts in three of his last four outings (4.30 ERA). Musgrove’s .318 expected batting average ranks in the bottom 5 percent of the league and is well above his career rate (.239). Musgrove lost his NLCS start against the Phillies (6.35 ERA) but has a 3.00 ERA in five career starts (27 IP).

Here's how Musgrove has fared against current Phillies:

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .