Padres: After year of adjustment Manny Machado is set to break out

What should we expect

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I think it’s pretty safe to expect and assume we see Manny Machado get back to what we saw from him during his time with Baltimore, which is an All-Star caliber player.

Part of that is just expecting that the Padres are going to be a better team in 2020 and should have a deeper lineup.

With a healthy Tatis Jr. at the top of the lineup and Tommy Pham likely hitting in front of him as well, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to drive in over 90 runs again.

It would be great if they can get one more bat to protect Machado in the lineup. Or if Eric Hosmer can bounce-back.

But either way, this lineup should be much better in 2020 and that alone should help Machado boost his numbers.

In the first half last year he had a .266/.339/.489/.828 slash line with 20 home runs in 331 at-bats (a home run every 16.6 at-bats).

While the average and slugging percentage was still a little low, that’s the type of production we should expect from him.

And what’s really surprising is that his walk percentage, strikeout percentage, and hard-hit rate were actually higher in the second half last season. But his BABIP was much lower at .260 compared to .287 in the first half.

Maybe part of that has to do with the way teams shifted on Machado, and maybe some of it has to do with Machado adjusting to National League pitchers.

Whatever the case may be, the numbers show us there is no reason to be concerned about our third baseman going forward.

I fully expect to see him playing at an All-Star level in 2020 and wouldn’t be surprised to see him put up a line similar to this: .280/.340/.520/.850, 35 home runs, 90 RBI, and a 125 wRC+.

And we haven’t even touched on his defense, which is still elite and will help him be a 5-6 WAR player again.

What are your expectations for Machado in 2020? Let us know in the comments below.