Silver Slugger Award finalists announced

The Silver Slugger Award is presented each year to the best offensive player in each league at each position on the diamond. Beginning in 2022, the honor has also been bestowed upon the most prolific hitter in each league among utility players.

? All-time Silver Slugger Award winners

From established stars with several Silver Slugger trophies on their shelves to rising rookies who are seeking their first, here’s a look at the finalists for the award at each position in 2023. Winners will be announced on MLB Network at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 9.

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

FIRST BASE

Triston Casas, Red Sox
Yandy Díaz, Rays
Nathaniel Lowe, Rangers
Spencer Torkelson, Tigers

Lowe is the reigning Silver Slugger at first base in the AL, and he put together another strong season, with 17 home runs and 82 RBIs for the AL pennant winners. The other three would all be first-time winners. Díaz won the AL batting title by hitting .330 this season, and also posted a .932 OPS. Torkelson led AL first basemen with 31 home runs. And the breakout rookie Casas had 24 homers and an .857 OPS.

SECOND BASE

Brandon Drury, LAA
Marcus Semien, TEX
Gleyber Torres, NYY

Semien looks like the favorite to win his second career Silver Slugger Award (he won in 2021 with the Blue Jays) after leading the AL with 185 hits and 122 runs scored in 2023, to go along with his 29 home runs, 14 steals and 100 RBIs. Drury, who won a Silver Slugger in the NL last year as a utility player, had 26 home runs and 83 RBIs in his first season with the Angels. Torres batted .273 with 25 home runs, 13 stolen bases and 68 RBIs

THIRD BASE

Alex Bregman, HOU
Rafael Devers, BOS
Isaac Paredes, TB
José Ramírez, CLE

Bregman, Devers and Ramírez have combined to win the last six AL Silver Slugger Awards at third base -- Ramírez won in 2017, '18, '20 and '22; Bregman won in 2019; and Devers won in 2021. Paredes is the only new name among the finalists after his breakout 31-homer, 98-RBI season for the Rays.

SHORSTOP

J.P. Crawford, SEA
Corey Seager, TEX
Bobby Witt Jr., KC

Seager hasn't won a Silver Slugger since his back-to-back awards with the Dodgers in 2016 and '17, but he just had the best season of his career, batting .327 with 33 home runs, 96 RBIs and a 1.013 OPS before helping the Rangers win their first World Series championship. The 23-year-old Witt had a big breakout in his sophomore season in Kansas City, finishing with 30 homers, 49 stolen bases, 96 RBIs and an MLB-leading 11 triples. Crawford had his best season yet for the Mariners, with a career-high 19 home runs and an AL-leading 94 walks.

OUTFIELD

Randy Arozarena, TB
Adolis García, TEX
Aaron Judge, NYY
Luis Robert Jr., CWS
Julio Rodríguez, SEA
Anthony Santander, BAL
Kyle Tucker, HOU

Two of the three reigning Silver Sluggers in the AL outfield are finalists again in Judge and Rodríguez -- Judge followed up his historic 62-homer campaign in 2022 with 37 more in 2023 (in just 106 games), and J-Rod was just as electric as he was as a rookie, putting together his first 30-30 season in Seattle. But they have a lot of worthy challengers. García and Robert led AL outfielders with 39 and 38 home runs, respectively. Tucker, meanwhile, led the league with 112 RBIs. Arozarena had 23 homers and 22 steals for the Rays, and Santander had 28 homers and 95 RBIs for the 101-win Orioles.

CATCHER

Salvador Perez, KC
Cal Raleigh, SEA
Adley Rutschman, BAL

Perez is a decorated Silver Slugger, having won the award four times as the Royals' backstop, most recently in 2021. But Rutschman emerged as arguably the best all-around catcher in baseball in 2023, batting .277 with 20 home runs, 80 RBIs, 163 hits and 92 walks in his sophomore season. Raleigh was the best slugging catcher in the Majors, leading the position with 30 home runs.

DESIGNATED HITTER

Yordan Alvarez, HOU
Shohei Ohtani, LAA

Ohtani is both the AL MVP favorite and a favorite to win his second career Silver Slugger Award. The two-way superstar was the AL home run king with 44 in 2023 -- becoming the first Japanese player ever to lead his league in homers -- and Ohtani also led the Majors with a 1.066 OPS while hitting over .300 for the first time. He'll still have to dethrone the reigning AL Silver Slugger at DH in Alvarez, who had another great season by batting .293 with 31 homers, 97 RBIs and a .990 OPS for the Astros.

UTILITY

Brandon Drury, LAA
Gunnar Henderson, BAL
Isaac Paredes, TB
Whit Merrifield, TOR

Drury is a Silver Slugger finalist at two positions, here and second base, and this is the one he won in 2022 in the NL -- the first year the utility position got a Silver Slugger Award. Paredes is also a multi-position finalist, also nominated at third base. The veteran Merrifield is one of the game's most established utility players, yet is still looking for his first career Silver Slugger. But can any of those three beat out the AL Rookie of the Year Award favorite Henderson, who finished with 28 home runs, 10 stolen bases and 82 RBIs for Baltimore?

NATIONAL LEAGUE

FIRST BASE

Pete Alonso, NYM
Freddie Freeman, LAD
Matt Olson, ATL

Olson, already established as one of the best hitters in the game, put together a career year in 2023. Seeking his first Silver Slugger Award, the Braves’ first baseman launched a Major League-leading 54 homers, eclipsing Andruw Jones’ franchise record of 51 in 2005. Olson also led the Majors with a Braves-record 139 RBIs and posted a .993 OPS. Alonso is also seeking his first Silver Slugger honor, and he had another outstanding campaign with an .821 OPS and 46 homers. Freeman continued to show why he remains elite at the plate -- the three-time Silver Slugger Award winner had an MLB-best 59 doubles to go along with 29 homers and a .976 OPS.

SECOND BASE

Ozzie Albies, ATL
Luis Arraez, MIA
Ketel Marte, AZ

Albies, seeking his third career Silver Slugger Award, produced career-best offensive numbers in 2023, hitting 33 homers with a 124 OPS+ to help fuel a record-setting Atlanta lineup. Arraez flirted with the highly revered .400 batting average mark for much of the season, and while his average dipped in the second half, he still led MLB by hitting .354 for the Marlins. And before he took home National League Championship Series MVP honors, Marte smashed 25 homers with an .844 OPS for the D-backs.

THIRD BASE

Nolan Arenado, STL
Manny Machado, SD
Max Muncy, LAD
Austin Riley, ATL

For the first time in over a decade, Arenado will not be the winner of the NL Gold Glove Award at third base. But he still has a shot at a sixth Silver Slugger Award after launching 26 homers and driving in 93 runs for the Cardinals. Machado is seeking his second Silver Slugger honor, hitting at least 30 homers for the seventh time in his career. Muncy had a bounce-back campaign at the plate in which he tied a career high with 36 homers and set a career high with 105 RBIs. Riley won a Silver Slugger Award in his first full MLB season (2021) and is hoping for a second thanks to another prolific season for the Braves -- he slugged .516 with 37 homers.

SHORTSTOP

Xander Bogaerts, SD
Francisco Lindor, NYM
Dansby Swanson, CHC
Trea Turner, PHI

A two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, Lindor had another strong season at the plate in 2023, joining the 30-30 club with 31 homers and 31 steals for the Mets. Turner, who won his first Silver Slugger honor in ’22, struggled in the first half this year, but turned things around in August and September, hitting 16 of his 26 homers over the final two months of the regular season. Swanson slumped in the second half, but still eclipsed 20 homers for the third consecutive season. In his first season with the Padres, five-time Silver Slugger Award winner Bogaerts hit 19 homers with a .790 OPS.

OUTFIELD

Ronald Acuña Jr., ATL
Mookie Betts, LAD
Cody Bellinger, CHC
Corbin Carroll, AZ
Kyle Schwarber, PHI
Juan Soto, SD
Seiya Suzuki, CHC

Acu?a, eyeing his third Silver Slugger Award, became the first player in AL/NL history with at least 40 homers (41) and 70 steals (73) in the same season. Betts, meanwhile, had a monster second half that led to his finest offensive campaign since 2018 -- the five-time Silver Slugger belted a career-best 39 homers and posted a .987 OPS. Bellinger had a resurgent year after three seasons of declining production, contributing 26 homers and driving in 97 in 130 games for the Cubs.

Bellinger’s teammate, Suzuki, had been hurt much of his rookie year but produced an .842 OPS with 20 homers in 2023. Carroll, the likely NL Rookie of the Year, became the first rookie to hit 25-plus homers with 50-plus steals in a season. Schwarber slugged 47 homers to bring him within four of 250 for his career, and Soto had a strong season after an underwhelming 2022 (by his standards), finishing with a career-high 35 homers.

CATCHER

William Contreras, MIL
Sean Murphy, ATL
J.T. Realmuto, PHI
Will Smith, LAD

Contreras turned in a solid first season with the Brewers, posting an .828 OPS with 17 homers in 141 games. Murphy was an early-season MVP candidate, slashing .306/.400/.599 with 17 homers prior to the All-Star break. He struggled after that, but still set career highs in homers (21), RBIs (68) and OPS (.844) in his first year with the Braves. Realmuto, the gold standard for catchers the past few years, hit 20 home runs, reaching the 20 mark for the fourth time in his career as he seeks his third Silver Slugger Award. And Smith was an All-Star for the first time, finishing the season with 19 homers and 76 RBIs for the Dodgers.

DESIGNATED HITTER

Bryce Harper, PHI
J.D. Martinez, LAD
Marcell Ozuna, ATL
Jorge Soler, MIA

Harper, a two-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award, made a swift recovery from offseason Tommy John surgery, returning to action in May and hitting 21 homers with a .900 OPS despite missing the first month of the season. Martinez, a three-time winner, had his best power season since 2019, connecting for 33 homers while slugging .572. Ozuna was a key cog in Atlanta’s well-oiled offensive machine, smashing 40 homers with a .905 OPS as he looks to win his third Silver Slugger honor. Soler is seeking his first after slugging .512 with 36 homers for the Marlins.

UTILITY

Cody Bellinger, CHC
Mookie Betts, LAD
Ha-Seong Kim, SD
Spencer Steer, CIN

Betts and Bellinger, by virtue of their defensive versatility, have better odds of winning a Silver Slugger Award this year -- each is a finalist in the outfield but also saw time on the infield in 2023. Kim had his best Major League season yet, hitting 17 homers while swiping 38 bases and playing all over the infield for the Padres. Steer, a rookie who appeared at second base, third base and in the outfield for the Reds, was prolific at the plate for Cincinnati, delivering 23 homers and an .820 OPS.