Padres' Manny Machado Earns Award Nobody Wants

The San Diego Padres have been through a whirlwind halfway through the 2026 season. 

They remain in the thick of the National League wild-card race, currently behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the top spot in that department. 

San Diego has experienced plenty of highs and lows this season, and few players have embodied that rollercoaster ride more than All-Star third baseman Manny Machado. 

Machado has endured the worst offensive slump of his career. He's posted well below his usual standards, including a .186 batting average and .655 OPS — marks he has never recorded over his stellar career. 

His numbers have been jarring, contributing to the Padres' struggles throughout the season. 

Machado has not done himself any favors, resulting in Joel Sherman of the New York Post handing him the midseason award of NL anti-MVP. 

"That the Padres ranked last in the NL in runs per game was not all on Machado and instead revolves around four players committed to long-term who have provided way too little — also Xander Bogaerts, Jackson Merrill and the powerless Fernando Tatis Jr.," Sherman wrote. "But Machado is the face of this, and even having stirred offensively in the last two weeks, he was hitting .186 with an 82 OPS-plus and minus-0.2 Wins Above Replacements (Baseball Reference), the latter a reflection of how much his defensive metrics have fallen at third base, too."

While the Padres have faced some elite pitching this season, they've also endured a historically bad offense. 

Through the first few months of the season, the Padres offense has struggled mightily, ranking near the bottom in almost every major offensive category in the league. The Padres rank dead last in batting average and OPS, 23rd in home runs and 21st in runs batted in.  

Machado has done very little to help the Padres offense, especially early in the year.

He's been a long staple in what San Diego has done for the past eight seasons; however, that has not helped his cause in 2026. 

The seven-time All-Star is no spring chicken anymore. He's 33 years old and has been in the league for 15 seasons. 

It's possible age is beginning to catch up with the two-time Gold Glove winner, and if that's the case, it could spell trouble for the Friars, who still have Machado under contract through the 2033 season.

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