May 2, 2017; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres center fielder Manuel Margot (7) during the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
May 2, 2017; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres center fielder Manuel Margot (7) during the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /
San Diego Padres outfielder Manuel Margot has taken the center field job this season and run with it.
Manny Margot was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Boston Red Sox in 2011 for a reported bonus of $800K. He made his pro debut in 2012 in the Dominican Summer League, hitting .285/.382/.423 with 7 triples, 4 home runs, and 33 stolen bases over 309 plate appearances with a 11.65 BB% and a 8.09 K%.
The Red Sox skipped Margot completely over their Gulf Coast League team to their New York-Penn League team with Lowell. The jump hardly phased the 18 year-old Margot, as he hit .270/.346/.351 with 1 home run and 18 stolen bases, posting a 10.19% walk rate and 18.52% strikeout rate.
Margot was bumped up to to low-A Greenville in the South Atlantic League to open 2014. He finished the year with a 16 game run in high-A Salem. Combined, he hit .293/.356/.462 with 5 triples, 12 home runs, and 42 stolen bases, posting a 8.32 BB% and 11.51 K%.
His big season got the notice of prospect ranking services as Margot made the offseason top prospect lists for the first time, ranking #72 in Baseball America’s list, #99 with MLB Pipeline, and #61 with Baseball Prospectus.
2015 saw Margot split his season nearly evenly between high-A Salem in the Carolina League and AA Portland in the Eastern League. Combined, he hit .276/.324/.419 with 9 triples, 6 home runs, and 39 stolen bases, posting a 6.67% walk rate and 10.63% strikeout rate.
The offseason lists bumped Margot up after showing well in the upper minors at 20 years old, ranking #56 with Baseball America, #45 with MLB Pipeline, and #14 with Baseball Prospectus.
November 2015, the Boston Red Sox traded Margot along with Carlos Asuaje, Javier Guerra, and Logan Allen to the San Diego Padres in exchange for closer Craig Kimbrel.
In his first season in the Padres season, Margot spent his minor league time entirely with El Paso in the AAA Pacific Coast League where he hit .304/.351/.426 with 12 triples, 6 home runs, and 30 stolen bases, posting a 6.36 BB% and 11.31 K%. He was called up to the majors for 10 games, hitting .243/.243/.405 with 2 SB.
He was bumped up a bit further in most lists, ranking the #24 prospect in Baseball America’s list, #23 prospect with MLB Pipeline, and #18 by Baseball Prospectus.
Tagged with the starting center field job to open 2017, Margot has hit fairly well for a rookie, posting a .259/.305/.389 line with 3 triples, 4 home runs, and 5 stolen bases, posting a 6.5% walk rate and 19.5% strikeout rate.
Margot is listed at 5’11” and 180 pounds, and he is gifted with elite speed in spite of what appears a solid build to his frame.
Hitting
Contact (55) – Margot has a quick, compact swing that gets through the zone in a hurry with minimal load to the plate. He has been fairly aggressive in his approach the last couple of seasons, and that has led to him expanding the zone, showing his tremendous bat-to-ball ability, but often leaving him without the best bat on the ball that he puts into play each time. More selectivity in his pitches that he’s swinging at would lead to an even better contact grade.
Power (45) – That pitch selectivity would definitely allow for much more power access as Margot is well built in his frame, and when he truly barrels a ball, it absolutely rockets off of his bat. He won’t ever be a guy to threaten 30 home runs without some other circumstances coming into play, but his natural strength could allow for some 20+ home run seasons.
Eye (60) – Margot has exceptional zone recognition, as evidenced by his tremendously low strikeout rate in the minor leagues. He has shown the ability to post double-digit walk rates as well, so the pitch recognition is also there, but he’s been utilizing a more aggressive approach. Working the count and being willing to take a walk would go a long way toward Margot truly taking the next step as an elite player offensively.
Base Running/Fielding
Speed (65) – In terms of raw speed, Margot is probably a true 60-grade runner. However, he has tremendous base running instincts that really play up, and he has shown base stealing abilities as well that allow him to tick up just a touch.
Margot also utilizes his speed tremendously well defensively. He is not the most efficient runner in the first three steps, but by step 5, he’s at top speed, and that allows him to be a tremendous asset in the field and on the bases.
Defense (60) – Margot tracks the ball tremendously well in center field and has very good instincts on balls in the air. One thing Margot has been dinged a touch on is that he doesn’t have the best first steps, but he does take very good routes once he does get going, which often corrects from a mediocre first step.
Arm (55) – While Margot’s arm is average to slightly above-average, he plays it up tremendously with positioning behind his throws and his accuracy. His general baseball acumen is very high, and that has allowed him to make very good decisions on where to throw the ball frequently, doubling off runners hoping to advance on the back end of a throw many times in the minors.
MLB Player Comp
The first time I saw Margot, I had an immediate comp, and it’s stuck ever since – Marquis Grissom.
Fans who only caught Grissom in the 2000s truly missed out on the elite player that he was for the Expos and Braves in the 1990s, and the build and skill set that Margot has is very similar to the eye. The interesting part is when I took a look, Grissom was actually 5’11” and 210 pounds, likely a weight listing from the end of his career, when he had added 20-30 pounds over the course of his career.
I don’t see Margot having 70+ steal seasons, but a guy who was an elite defender over the first decade of his career, posted 10 20+ steal seasons, and posted 13 double digit home run seasons, along with posting a .272 career batting average while only clearing .300 twice in his entire career is the profile that would be the model of consistency that Margot’s high-end baseball acumen and athleticism could allow him to produce.
In watching a number of Margot’s games, he has not seen major issues with pitch recognition, but he has had a couple of dings from defense that carried over to his swing so far. He’s actually currently on the DL due to a hamstring issue.
It will be very interesting to watch how Margot’s career takes off with the Padres really having nothing to lose by playing him over and over this year. Margot will be given the opportunity to learn at the major league level this year, and he has the skills to certainly bounce back and be a guy who finishes the season on a tear.
