A year ago Manny Machado had a slow start, then caught fire and finished 3rd in the National League MVP voting. This year Manny got off to another slow start, then caught fire and earned a spot in the All-Star Game.
Machado found out on Saturday he's the 5th Friar to be named to the National League squad for this year's Midsummer Classic, the most in the league and tied with Boston for the most in baseball. Manny leads the league in RBI and has been one of the best defensive players, at any position, in the game this season.
This is the 5th All-Star nod for Machado. He joins Fernando Tatis Jr., Yu Darvish, Mark Melancon and Jake Cronenworth on the way to Denver's Coors Field.
Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding Manny's addition aren't ideal. He's taking the place of Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna. The NL's leading vote getter in the All-Star fan balloting tore his right ACL trying to make a catch in Miami and will miss the remainder of the season.
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