"You mean Aaron Judge";"Bryce Harper and Mike Trout are icons" - Fans roast ex-MLB pitcher's bold Manny Machado prediction

San Diego Padres superstar Manny Machado is one of the most consistent players in the majors. Machado earned seven All-Star selections, a Platinum Glove, two Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger awards since his MLB debut in 2012.

After the Padres star's 2000th career hit on Monday, former big leaguer Steven Brault boldly claimed the infielder could surpass the likes of Bryce Harper and Mike Trout as the 'best player' of this generation.

"If you go look at the numbers, he (Manny Machado) absolutely should be [seen as one of the best of the generation]. He's got around 300 more hits than both Trout and Harper. Right now I'd say, Trout, Machado, Harper. But, I think by the time this is all said and done, I think you got Machado maybe even at the top," Brault said, via 'Baseball Today' on Tuesday.

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Reacting to Brault's hot take, fans were quick to remind the former Cubs pitcher that he was forgetting about one big name.

"You mean Judge?" a fan wrote

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"Judge apparently died," another fan shared

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Others argued in favor of Harper and Trout.

"Not even close he's good but Harper and Trout are icons of this era Machado is just another good player" a fan replied

"No lol. Trout and Bryce have 5 MVP’s combined. Gtfo with this. Machado is great but no" another fan responded

"Machado is not even in the same universe" another fan commented

"Absolutely not" another fan posted

Padres skipper Mike Shildt talks about Manny Machado as last of a dying breed of hitters

Manny Machado, who has 2,001 big league hits to his name, is one of the best in the game at putting the ball in play.

Speaking about Machado's prowess and fellow Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who has 2,357 hits, Padres manager Mike Shildt explained how the pair belong to a rare group of hitters.

"Manny and Freddie, they came from a different era with a different philosophy and a different skill set on how to approach hitting, and they’ve been able to survive, their talent’s extraordinary, but it’s not so extraordinary that other people can’t follow it," Shildt said on June 6, via The New York Times.

"The industry, including the amateur level, is tripled up where you’re just devaluing the hit. It’s not valued as highly. I followed this trend as soon as we started to get into more of the pull approach, pull the ball in the air, three-outcome game." Shildt added

Manny Machado and Freddie Freeman's excellent hitting ability has been on full display this season, with the pair batting .293 and .307 respectively. Both have All-Star selections to show for their fine displays in the first half of the 2025 season.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash