Blue Jays: Five players named as Silver Slugger Award Finalists

Earlier this evening, Major League Baseball announced the finalists for this season’s Silver Slugger Awards, an achievement that is used to determine the top offensive player in both the AL and NL based on position as voted on by coaches and managers across the league. The usual statistics are included in determining the winner like slash lines, home runs, RBI, etc and this year the Blue Jays have five players who were named as finalists for the award.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had an MVP caliber season and it is no surprise that he is a finalist for the award with his .311/.401/.601, AL-leading 1.002 OPS, and his 48 home runs. His competition is first basemen Yuli Gurriel (Astros) and Matt Olsen (Athletics) and he stands a good chance of taking home the hardware considering he was the AL leader in numerous offensive categories, even outside of just his position. He was a major reason the Blue Jays got to where they did this season and he should easily be the winner when the results are announced on Novemeber 11th.

Marcus Semien set a record for home runs by a second baseman in a single season with his 45 round-trippers but he will be in tough competition against Jose Altuve (Astros), DJ LeMahieu (Yankees), and Jorge Polanco (Twins) as his slash line, a major contributor to the award winner, is .265/.334/.538 and sits below some of his competition. He was a huge offensive threat in the Blue Jays lineup and if it wasn’t for Altuve, this award would be most likely heading home with Semien. Can the power and WAR be enough to carry him over Altuve?

The Toronto Blue Jays have five players named as finalists for the Silver Slugger Award this season, with a few in the running to take it home.

At shortstop, Bo Bichette finds himself nominated for the award and similar to Semien, will be in tough to take home the hardware. He goes up against Carlos Correa (Astros), Xander Bogaerts (Red Sox), and Tim Anderson (White Sox), and while Bichette’s .298/.343/.484 and .828 OPS does hold up well against the rest of the group, he did lead the AL in hits with 191 and that could sway some votes his way. Factor in his 29 home runs and 102 RBI and he might be able to squeeze out enough support to take home the award.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez round out the group, with the two outfielders having to compete against six others for only three trophies, as the Silver Slugger Award for outfielders does not specify based on position. Hernandez stands a better shot of taking home an award over Gurriel Jr. with his .296/.346/.524 slash line, .870 OPS, 32 home runs, and 116 RBI compared to the Cuban’s .276/.319/.466 line, .785 OPS, 21 home runs, and 84 RBI.

Even with Hernandez’s stats, he is still not guaranteed to take home a trophy either with competition coming in the form of Aaron Judge (Yankees), Cedric Mullins (Orioles), Kyle Tucker (Astros), Mitch Haniger (Mariners), Hunter Renfroe (Red Sox), and Rany Arozarena (Rays). If Hernandez was to win, it would go right beside his 2020 Silver Slugger Award.