PHILADELPHIA —
Manny Machado was lined up in the shortstop spot with the Padres in a shift against Bryce Harper on Wednesday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
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On Harper’s grounder to Machado’s right, Machado took six steps, grabbed the ball with his glove, quickly transferred it to his right hand and with his momentum still carrying him the other way, threw across his body to precisely the spot where shortstop Ha-Seong Kim could catch it without moving, get the force at second base and complete a crucial eighth-inning double play by a split second.
It is one of practically innumerable plays that illustrates the rare skillsets Machado possesses that make it shocking he is not a finalist for the Gold Glove Award at third base.
“Manny, playing third, hasn’t played short in a long time,” second baseman Jake Cronenworth said after the game. “… That was pretty awesome.”
The Padres do have four Gold Glove Award finalists.
Kim, Cronenworth, center fielder Trent Grisham and right fielder Juan Soto were named one of three finalists at their respective positions. The winners will be announced Nov. 1.
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St. Louis’ Nolan Arenado, who has won the award nine straight years, Pittsburgh’s Ke’Bryan Hayes and Colorado‘s Ryan McMahon are the finalists at third base.
“I’m a little biased, obviously, but I’m surprised by it,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “We have some guys on there that I’m glad that they’re on there. I think the one that is missing and is pretty glaring and obvious would be Manny.”
The Gold Glove Award is determined by a vote of each league’s coaches and managers (weighted 75 percent) and the metrics-based SABR Defensive Index (25 percent).
The SDI standings are not revealed until after the voting. In other defensive metrics, Machado largely does not measure up with the three finalists.
He is fourth in the NL (behind the three finalists) in outs above average and fifth in defensive runs saved among third baseman. But his 11 errors were fewer than any of the finalists.
Strangely, the above-described play also helps explain why Machado might get overlooked. He was playing out of position and no sterile metric can truly quantify the difficulty and slim margin for error on the play.
“The guys he’s going up against — there’s a lot of really good third basemen, especially in this league,” Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove said. “Watching Arenado and playing against him down stretch, he’s about as consistent as it gets at third. Manny is every bit deserving of that. … The overall impact of him as a player, not just as a defensive guy, is what he brings to the table for us. (But) yeah, I mean, that’s kind of a guy that you expect to be in the top three every year at third base.”
The 30-year-old Machado won two Gold Gloves in the AL while playing for the Orioles.
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This would be Grisham’s second Gold Glove and a first for Cronenworth and Kim.
Not yet
The Padres have not revealed their Game 4 starter and might not until after Friday’s game.
It is expected Sean Manaea and Mike Clevinger will piggyback in some fashion, but that could change depending on how they have to get through Game 3.
“There are a lot of variables and we haven’t even talked about what it might look like,” Melvin said. “We’ve discussed some things but haven’t told anybody.”
Ready for no rest
Thursday’s off-day provided built-in rest anyway.
But Blake Snell battling through five innings and Nick Martinez giving the Padres two scoreless innings Wednesday further enabled the Padres to arrive at this point with a rested bullpen. It likely won’t hurt that Musgrove, who has allowed two runs in 13 innings in two postseason starts and went six innings in 22 of his 30 regular season starts, is starting Game 3.
That all could prove to be significant given that there is not another off-day in the series.
“Each day is going to dictate how the next day goes,” Melvin said. “Typically, we get longer starts out of Joe, which will help us leading off (a potential) five days in a row, but you’re not sure. So we’ll take it day to day.”
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