MLB futures: Paul Skenes loses to Padres All-Star as the frontrunner for NL Rookie of the Year
MLB futures: Paul Skenes loses to Padres All-Star as the frontrunner for NL Rookie of the Year
In July’s Midsummer Classic, Skenes became the first rookie to start an All-Star Game since 1995 and only the sixth first-year player in MLB history to do so.
Merrill, on the other hand, was one of the hotters hitters in baseball this summer and was also a part of the NL All-Star squad.
On July 19, the 21-year-old had a.737 OPS and was compiling a decent triple slash of.275/.307/.430 for the season. Merrill now has a.289/.320/.484 slash line and a.804 OPS going into Wednesday’s game.
Alongside fellow 2024 All-Stars Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar, and Luis Arraez, as well as six-time All-Star Manny Machado, four-time All-Star Xander Bogaerts, and other talented players, the rookie leads the team in triples (six) and slugging percentage and ranks second in runs scored (62), hits (125), stolen bases (13), and total bases (209).
On August 11, Merrill was awarded the NL Player of the Week. Merrill earned the June NL Rookie of the Month. With five home runs and 23 RBI in the second half of 101 at-bats in 27 games, he has recorded a.327/.351.644 triple slash.
The Padres have improved along with Merrill’s bat, going 22-6 in the second half and 13-4 in August to now sit 17 games over average.500 at 72–55. They own the top wild-card slot and are only three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (75-52) in the NL West.
Skenes’ pursuit of the hardware may be impeded by the Pirates’ potential to reduce his workload. Pittsburgh (59-66) has trailed the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers (73-52) by a season-worst 14 games after going 4-13 in August and 11-18 in the second half.
The Pirates are eight games behind the third-place Atlanta Braves (67-58), who are buried in the division and rapidly losing ground in the wild-card chase. Come September, they might not have much of a motive to start Skenes the remainder of the season.
