SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 7: Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres hits a home run in the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants on July 7, 2022 at Petco Park in San Diego, California. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images)
Manny Machado is on the short list of National League MVP candidates. It's a no-brainer that he should be starting in the All-Star Game.
Machado won the starting 3rd base spot by a narrow margin over Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals. He had a commanding lead at the end of the Phase 1 voting but after suffering an ankle injury was able to just hold off his St. Louis counterpart, winning 51% of the vote.
This will be Machado's 6th trip to the Midsummer Classic, but might be the most special one yet.
"This one's a big one. It's the first one starting with the San Diego Padres," says Machado. "On top of that, it was voted by the fans. It shows you how much San Diego, our fans here, have been enjoying what we've been doing on the field and supporting us throughout this whole year. Thank you guys so much for making that happen and making it possible. I'll see you guys in L.A."
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Manny leads the Padres in nearly every offensive statistical category and is in the Top-10 in Major League Baseball in every metric that matters. Plus, he plays a Gold Glove-caliber 3rd base. Right now Las Vegas has him as the 2nd betting favorite for the MVP award behind Cardinals 1st baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
On Sunday we'll see the rest of the All-Star rosters and it's as close to a guarantee as you'll ever get that San Diego native Joe Musgrove will be earning his first spot in the game.
The All-Star game will be played on Tuesday, July 19th, at 5 p.m. PT. , at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
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