2018 Silver Slugger™ Award winners released
Louisville Slugger®, the Official Bat of Major League Baseball®, proudly announced the 2018 Silver Slugger™ Awards on Thursday night in a special hour-long telecast exclusively on MLB Network®. For the first time in history, one player received two Silver Slugger Awards. J.D. Martinez was voted the winner at the designated hitter position as well as one of the outfield positions in the American League.
Martinez played 150 games this year with the Boston Red Sox. He had 569 official at-bats, 219 as an outfielder and 350 as designated hitter. It was an incredible season for Martinez who belted 43 HRs and had 130 RBIs. He had a .330 batting average and an amazing 1.031 OPS. Other players have received votes at multiple positions in past years, but this is the first time in history a player has won two Silver Slugger Awards in the same season.
There are six first-time winners this year, all of whom are from the National League. First-time winners are Javier Báez, Trevor Story, J.T. Realmuto, David Peralta, Nick Markakis and German Márquez. Mike Trout took home his sixth Silver Slugger Award, and Jose Altuve won his fifth. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt won their fourth Silver Sluggers while José Abreu, Francisco Lindor, José Ramírez, Salvador Perez, Mookie Betts and Christian Yelich claimed their second awards. Each of the 18 winning players will take home a beautifully crafted Silver Slugger Award from Louisville Slugger in honor of his achievements. The Silver Slugger Award is the top offensive award in Major League Baseball, with the top players at each position in each league selected in a vote by MLB® coaches and managers.
Youth reigned once again as 12 of the 2018 Silver Slugger Award winners are under 30 years old, including sixth-time winner Trout, who was 26 during the season. Twelve teams are represented, with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks each having multiple winners.
Following is a complete list of the 2018 Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winners, their ages, key statistics and the number of Silver Slugger Awards they have won:
2018 LOUISVILLE SLUGGER SILVER SLUGGER AWARD WINNERS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Pos. Winner/Age Team Stats # SSAs won
1B José Abreu - 31 Chicago White Sox .265 BA, 22 HR, 78 RBI, .798 OPS 2nd - '14, '18
2B Jose Altuve - 28 Houston Astros .316 BA, 13 HR, 61 RBI, .837 OPS 5th - '14, '15, '16, '17, '18
SS Francisco Lindor - 24 Cleveland Indians .277 BA, 38 HR, 92 RBI, .871 OPS 2nd - '17, '18
3B José Ramírez - 25 Cleveland Indians .270 BA, 39 HR, 105 RBI, .939 OPS 2nd - '17, '18
C Salvador Perez - 28 Kansas City Royals .235 BA, 27 HR, 80 RBI, .713 OPS 2nd - '16, '18
OF Mookie Betts - 25 Boston Red Sox .346 BA, 32 HR, 80 RBI, 1.078 OPS, 30 SB 2nd - '16, '18
OF Mike Trout - 26 Los Angeles Angels .312 BA, 39 HR, 79 RBI, 1.088 OPS 6th - '12, '13, '14, '15, '16, '18
OF & DH J.D. Martinez - 30 Boston Red Sox .330 BA, 43 HR, 130 RBI, 1.031 OPS 2nd and 3rd - '15, '18, '18
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pos. Winner/Age Team Stats # SSAs won
1B Paul Goldschmidt - 30 Arizona Diamondbacks .290 BA, 33 HR, 83 RBI, .922 OPS 4th - '13, '15, '17, '18
2B Javier Báez - 25 Chicago Cubs .290 BA, 34 HR, 111 RBI, .881 OPS 1st - '18
SS Trevor Story - 25 Colorado Rockies .291 BA, 37 HR, 108 RBI, .914 OPS 1st - '18
3B Nolan Arenado - 27 Colorado Rockies .297 BA, 38 HR, 110 RBI, .935 OPS 4th - '15, '16, '17, '18
C J.T. Realmuto - 27 Miami Marlins .277 BA, 21 HR, 74 RBI, .825 OPS 1st - '18
OF Christian Yelich - 26 Milwaukee Brewers .326 BA, 36 HR, 110 RBI, 1.000 OPS, 22 SB 2nd - '16, '18
OF David Peralta- 30 Arizona Diamondbacks .293 BA, 30 HR, 87 RBI, .868 OPS 1st - '18
OF Nick Markakis - 34 Atlanta Braves .297 BA, 14 HR, 93 RBI, .806 OPS 1st - '18
P German Márquez - 23 Colorado Rockies .300 BA, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .650 OPS 1st - '18
The Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winners are decided by a vote of Major League Baseball managers and coaches who select the players they determine to be the best offensive producers at each position in the American and National Leagues. Selections are based on a combination of offensive statistics, including batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, as well as the managers' and coaches' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value. Tabulation of the balloting is verified by the accounting firm of Mountjoy Chilton Medley LLP.
MLB NETWORK HAS EXCLUSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS
For the tenth consecutive year, MLB Network made the exclusive announcement of the Silver Slugger Awards presented by Louisville Slugger in a special one-hour telecast hosted by Fran Charles and Eric Byrnes. All 18 awards were inside MLB Network studios for the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award Show. Each trophy is three feet tall and bears the engraved name of the winner along with the names of the other Silver Slugger winners in that player's league. All 18 awards are now being sent to Louisville where MLB fans can see them over the winter at Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory®. The specially designed Silver Slugger Awards will be presented to each winner in on-field ceremonies early in the 2019 MLB season.
About Louisville Slugger
Founded in 1884, Louisville Slugger is the Official Bat and Equipment Bag of Major League Baseball. This iconic baseball brand is part of Chicago-based Wilson Sporting Goods Co., the largest baseball