MLBPAA announces winners of the 17th annual Heart and Hustle Award

Colorado Springs, Colo. -- The Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) is pleased to announce the 30 preliminary winners of the 2022 Heart and Hustle Award. This esteemed award honors active players who demonstrate a passion for the game of baseball and best embody the values, spirit and traditions of the game. The Heart and Hustle Award is also the only award in Major League Baseball that is voted on by former players. Voting is conducted prior to the All-Star break.

The MLBPAA formed 30 committees, comprised of Alumni players with established relationships to each team. One player from each Major League team is chosen by the committees based on their passion, desire and work ethic demonstrated both on and off the field. As the season draws to a close, all alumni and active players will vote to select the final winner from the 30 team winners. The previous overall winners are David Eckstein (2005), Craig Biggio (2006, 2007), Grady Sizemore (2008), Albert Pujols (2009), Roy Halladay (2010), Torii Hunter (2011), Mike Trout (2012), Dustin Pedroia (2013), Josh Harrison (2014), Anthony Rizzo (2015), Todd Frazier (2016), Brett Gardner (2017), Mookie Betts (2018), Howie Kendrick (2019) and Ozzie Albies (2021). No award was presented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The overall winner will be announced in mid-November on MLB Network.

American League

Baltimore Orioles, Austin Hays

Boston Red Sox, Rafael Devers

Chicago White Sox, José Abreu

Cleveland Guardians, José Ramírez

Detroit Tigers, Eric Haase

Houston Astros, Jose Altuve

Kansas City Royals, Bobby Witt Jr.

Los Angeles Angels, Jared Walsh

Minnesota Twins, Luis Arraez

New York Yankees, Jose Trevino

Oakland Athletics, Chad Pinder

Seattle Mariners, Eugenio Suárez

Tampa Bay Rays, Manuel Margot

Texas Rangers, Adolis García

Toronto Blue Jays, Matt Chapman

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks, Daulton Varsho

Atlanta Braves, Dansby Swanson

Chicago Cubs, Willson Contreras

Cincinnati Reds, Kyle Farmer

Colorado Rockies, Connor Joe

Los Angeles Dodgers, Trea Turner

Miami Marlins, Jon Berti

Milwaukee Brewers, Jace Peterson

New York Mets, Brandon Nimmo

Philadelphia Phillies, Rhys Hoskins

Pittsburgh Pirates, Bryan Reynolds

San Diego Padres, Jake Cronenworth

San Francisco Giants, Wilmer Flores

St. Louis Cardinals, Paul Goldschmidt

Washington Nationals, Josh Bell*

*Josh Bell remains the Washington Nationals nominee despite being acquired by a different team after the committee voting was finalized.

For more information regarding the Heart and Hustle Award, please contact Nikki Warner, Director of Communications, by email at Nikki@MLBPAA.com or by calling (719) 477-1870, ext. 105.

To learn more about the MLBPAA, please visit www.baseballalumni.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@MLBPAA). The official hashtag for this award is #HeartandHustle.