SAN DIEGO -- Manuel Margot wasted no time acclimating himself to center field at Petco Park.
The Padres' top prospect showed off his elite glove, robbing the Cardinals' Carson Kelly of a home run in the sixth inning of Sunday's SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Petco Park.
Margot added a single and a walk, and Carlos Asuaje, who also came to the Padres in the Craig Kimbrel trade last November, finished 2-for-2, as the World Team knocked off the U.S., 11-3. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe went 0-for-2 with a walk for the U.S.
"Obviously, it was an exciting catch for me," Margot said through an interpreter. "It was a big play in a tight ballgame. ... For me, it's all about the experience. I take this as a learning experience. Keep working hard, so that one day I can be doing that on a consistent basis.
He might not be too far away. Margot has impressed at Triple-A El Paso all season with his outfield defense, and he ranged all the way to the 396-foot sign in right-center field, before leaping at the wall to make the catch, keeping the World team within a run.
It's Margot's first game at Petco Park, but he could very well be back soon. In 81 games for Triple-A El Paso, Margot is hitting .299/.349/.422, and he's swiped 23 bags.
"That stuff is out of your hands," Margot said of a potential callup. "In terms of how and when and where, we don't really control that. I leave that up to the people that make those decisions. I'm just excited to be here today, and hopefully I can be here soon in the future."
At the plate, Margot finished 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. He scored the World's first run of the evening, motoring from first on an RBI double by Eloy Jimenez.
On the play, Margot went from first to home in 10.2 seconds -- the second fastest time by a Padres baserunner this season. Only Wil Myers on June 28 posted a faster time, and that came with Myers running on the pitch.
Then, in the bottom of the frame, Margot dropped a few more jaws at Petco Park, reaching a top speed of 20.6 mph and covering 112 feet to rob Kelly. But to Renfroe and Asuaje, that was nothing new.
"He catches the ball like no one else," Renfroe said. "His ability to cover ground -- he's gliding and easy. It's like: 'How the heck did you get to that ball.'"
Added Asuaje, who has been Margot's roommate for three seasons: "I've been seeing him play for three years now. He never ceases to amaze me. The way he moves out there is faster than anybody I've ever seen. He's one of those guys, you never know what he's going to do, but you know he's going to do something."
It may not have been quite as glamorous, but Asuaje had himself a nice ballgame, too. He's batting .323/.386/.463 with El Paso, and Renfroe called him "the toughest out I think I've ever seen at the plate."
Meanwhile, Renfroe, the club's No. 3 prospect is probably the closest of the three to a big league breakthrough. He leads the Pacific Coast League with 21 home runs -- not to mention his .335 batting average and 13 outfield assists.
"It's almost impossible not to think about it," Renfroe said. "It's the daily grind of us being in Triple-A and having the TVs right there, watching the Padres after our game. We're saying, 'We could be there one day, we will be there one day.'"
Asuaje, for one, could get used to playing at Petco Park.
"Oh yeah, definitely," he said. "This atmosphere, the crowd, the stadium -- we have a good setup in El Paso, but man, I don't want to go back to peanut-and-butter jellys."