The San Diego Padres have spent most of the season living in the middle of the storm, but the latest award projection gives them a surprising reason to feel good about the stretch run.
With a month left in the regular season, MLB insider Jim Bowden of The Athletic is predicting two Padres to take home end-of-season honors: Mason Miller and Craig Stammen.
Miller is projected to win the National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Award, and the case starts with how overwhelming he has been all season. The right-hander owns a 1.26 ERA across 55 appearances and has converted 32 of 34 save chances. That kind of production has made him one of the most dominant relief arms in baseball, and Bowden’s prediction reflects just how far above the pack Miller has been.
The praise around Miller has already reached lofty territory, with some of the best closers in baseball history calling him "unhittable". If he keeps this pace over the final month, the award looks like his to lose.
Bowden’s other Padres pick is even more surprising. He has Stammen winning National League Manager of the Year in his first season with San Diego.
That alone tells you how much has gone into this year for the Padres. Stammen has had to steer the team through the ups and downs of a rocky season while also handling a roster with serious star power. The job has required constant adjustment, and Bowden’s projection suggests Stammen has handled those demands well.
When San Diego hired Stammen over the offseason, it came with real questions because he had never managed at any level before. But he has kept the Padres in position to fight for a playoff spot in the crowded National League wild-card race, and that alone has changed the conversation around his first year.
There are other NL managers in the mix, but Stammen has already outperformed expectations for a team that entered the year with plenty of uncertainty. If the Padres finish strong, he could end up with an award that would mark a remarkable debut season in the dugout.
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