Club-record 4 Padres named to All-MLB Second Team
SAN DIEGO -- Four Padres were honored at Thursday's All-MLB Awards show -- the highest single-season total for the club in the six seasons All-MLB teams have been named.
Third baseman Manny Machado, center fielder Jackson Merrill and starting pitchers Dylan Cease and Michael King were each named to the All-MLB Second Team in Thursday's announcement.
It's the third time Machado has received the honor, having been first-team All-MLB in 2020 and '22. (This season, Cleveland's José Ramírez took home first-team honors.)
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Cease was named to the Second Team in 2022 while pitching for the White Sox. For King, a career-long reliever until this season, and Merrill, a rookie, it's their first time earning the honor.
Among the group, Merrill had perhaps the best case for first-team status. He's a National League Rookie of the Year finalist after leading all MLB rookies in hits (162), average (.292) and OPS (.826) while tying for first with 24 home runs. He also played outstanding center field defense despite having never played the position at any level.
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Machado's inclusion is a testament to his excellent finish to the season. He struggled for most of the first half while dealing with the effects of offseason right elbow surgery. But Machado began mashing in mid-June and never really stopped. He finished with a .797 OPS, 29 homers and 105 RBIs. That included an .892 OPS with 23 of those homers from June 16 onward.
King and Cease, meanwhile, stabilized a Padres rotation that desperately needed it. Both arrived via trade -- King in the Juan Soto deal with the Yankees and Cease from the White Sox in March, via a package of prospects headlined by right-hander Drew Thorpe (who was also part of the Soto deal).
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King posted a 2.95 ERA across 31 appearances (30 starts) in his first full season as a starter. Cease notched a 3.47 mark while finishing second in the Majors with 224 strikeouts. His season featured some incredibly dominant stretches, one of which included a July no-hitter against the Nationals, the second in franchise history.
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