Manuel Margot

BIOGRAPHY

Manuel Margot was born September 28, 1994, in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. He is a centerfielder in the MLB.

In his September, 2016, call up, Margot played in 10 games, including seven starts in center field and one in right.

Despite a knee injury that limited his playing time in spring training, Margot made the 2017 Opening Day roster as the starting centerfielder. Margot hit five extra-base hits in his first six games of the 2017 season, including two home runs in consecutive plate appearances against San Francisco Giants starter Matt Cain on April 8, and two doubles off of Giants starter Madison Bumgarner on April 9. Margot missed about a month of the season in May and June with a calf injury. Margot finished the 2017 season with a .263/.313/.409 batting line with 13 home runs in 126 games, including 121 starts in center field. He finished sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Margot was the Padres, regular center fielder, in 2018, starting 123 games there, and only missing 10 days on the disabled list with bruised ribs in April. His batting line on the season dropped to .245/.292/.384 with 8 home runs and 11 stolen bases. He was considered to be a plus defender in center field, without making many highlight plays.

Margot began losing time in center field in 2019, making 98 starts there while Wil Myers picked up 58 of the center field starts. Margot effectively became part of a platoon with left-handed-hitting corner outfielder Josh Naylor in the latter part of the season. Margot still played in a career-high 151 games on the season, often coming in as a pinch hitter or defensive replacement. Margot batted .234/.304/.387 on the year, with 12 home runs in 398 at-bats. He had 20 stolen bases in 24 attempts. On defense, Margot led the Padres with 11 outs above average, ranking fourth in the National League.

On February 8, 2020, the Padres traded Margot and prospect Logan Driscoll to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Emilio Pagán. Before being traded to the Rays, Margot had only played 8 innings not in center field. However, the defensive prowess of Kevin Kiermaier caused Margot to play more innings in left and right field. Margot ended the season batting .269 with one home run and 12 stolen bases. The Rays ended the season with the best record in the American League. In the Wild Card Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Margot went three for seven with one home run and three RBIs. In the Division Series against the New York Yankees, Margot went one for nine with a two-run home run. The Rays would beat the Yankees in five games. In game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros, Margot hit a three-run home run in the first inning. In the second inning, Margot flipped over the wall in right field to record an out on a foul ball. Despite this game being played in his former home field (Petco Park), Margot was unaware that the drop over this wall was approximately six feet. In game 6 of the ALCS, Margot hit two home runs recording three RBIs as the Rays lost by three. The Rays would go on to beat the Astros in seven games and advanced to the World Series.

On April 5, 2022, Margot and the Rays agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $19 million, with a mutual option for 2025.