Two Padres are up for Baseball Writers Association of America awards: Jackson Merrill on Monday was named a finalist for NL Rookie of the Year, and Mike Shildt is up for NL Manager of the Year.
The rookie awards will be announced Nov. 18 and the manager awards will be announced Nov. 19. MLB Network will broadcast announcements both days at 3 p.m.
Merrill will have to beat out the Pirates’ Paul Skenes and the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio.
Merrill was already named the NL’s top rookie by the Major League Baseball Players Association. The BBWAA award, however, is the official NL Rookie of the Year Award that would earn the Padres a Prospect Promotion Incentive selection after the first round of the 2025 draft if Merrill wins.
The 21-year-old center fielder hit .292/.326/.500 with 24 homers, 90 RBIs and 16 steals after winning a spot on the opening day roster. His accomplishments include five game-tying or go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning or later, the youngest player to do so since at least 1961 and the first rookie.
Merrill also led all rookies in fWAR (5.3), ahead of Skenes (4.3) and Chourio (3.9).
Skenes’ credentials include a Pirates rookie-record 170 strikeouts and a 1.96 ERA over 133 innings (23 starts). Although he fell 30 innings short of qualifying for the ERA title, Skenes is just the 10th pitcher in the last 30 years with a sub-2.00 ERA.
Shildt is up against the Brewers’ Pat Murphy and the Mets’ Carlos Mendoza.
The Brewers contended with major injuries throughout their push to the top of the NL Central, Murphy’s first year taking over for Craig Counsell, while the Mets won 89 games after a second-half surge pushed them into the postseason, and the NLCS.
The Padres’ 93 wins under Shildt were second most in franchise history. Shildt replaced Bob Melvin after the most expensive team in franchise history flopped. Ownership cut some $90 million from payroll and Shildt was charged with a cultural overhaul that played a large role in the team competing for an NL West title into the last week of the regular season and ultimately pushing the Dodgers to five games in the NLDS.
Voting for both awards was completed before the postseason.
You can find the finalists for all of the BBWAA’s awards here.