It takes more than flair to win a Silver Slugger from third base in today’s National League. The position is stacked with three-true-outcomes thumpers, on-base merchants who never chase, and part-time mashers who can steal a headline in a hot month. Through all of that noise, Manny Machado gave the Padres something louder: bankable production that didn’t blink.
That’s why Thursday’s reveal landed with the weight of inevitability. Announced on The Baseball Insiders YouTube live stream on Nov. 6, Machado brought home his third career Silver Slugger — and his second straight — by marrying volume with damage in a way few at the hot corner managed this year.