List of Silver Slugger Award winners at designated hitter

David Ortiz has won the most Silver Slugger Awards as a designated hitter, with seven.

The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball (MLB). These voters consider several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, in addition to "coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value".[1] Managers and coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own team.[1] The Silver Slugger was first awarded in 1980 and is given by Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger bats.[2] The award is a bat-shaped trophy, 3 feet (91 cm) tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league[1] and plated with sterling silver.[3]

From 1980 to 2019, and in 2021, a Silver Slugger Award for designated hitters (DH) was only given in the American League,[4] because use of a DH in place of the pitcher in the batting order was prohibited in the National League;[5] a Silver Slugger Award for pitchers was given for the National League instead.[6] In the 2020 season, the National League temporarily allowed use of the designated hitter, and no pitcher was awarded the Silver Slugger Award. An award was given instead to the best designated hitter in the National League. The first NL Silver Slugger Award for designated hitter was given to Marcell Ozuna. Beginning in 2022, the pitcher Silver Slugger Award was retired after MLB announced the full-time implementation of the universal DH rule in both leagues. The Silver Slugger Award for DH is now awarded in both leagues.

David Ortiz has won the most Silver Sluggers as a designated hitter, capturing four consecutively from 2004 to 2007, and winning again in 2011, 2013 and 2016.[7] Two players are tied with four wins. Paul Molitor won the award four times with three different teams: the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987 and 1988; the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, when the team won the World Series; and the Minnesota Twins in 1996.[8] Edgar Martínez won the award four times with the Seattle Mariners (1995, 1997, 2001, 2003).[9] Don Baylor won the Silver Slugger three times in four years (1983, 1985–1986) as a designated hitter with the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox,[10] and Frank Thomas won it twice with the Chicago White Sox (1991, 2000).,[11] and Shohei Ohtani also won the award twice with the Los Angeles Angels (2021, 2023).[12] Harold Baines won the award while playing for two separate teams in the same season; he was traded by the White Sox to the Texas Rangers in the middle of the 1989 season.[13] Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper were the most recent winners.

Martínez set the records for the highest batting average and on-base percentage in a designated hitter's winning season with his .356 and .479 marks, respectively, in 1995.[9] Shohei Ohtani's slugging percentage of .654 is best among all winners at the position.[12] Ortiz hit 54 home runs during the 2006 season, when he won his third consecutive award,[7] and his 2005 total of 148 runs batted in is tied with Rafael Palmeiro's 1999 mark for best among designated hitters.[7][14]

Key

Year Links to the corresponding Major League Baseball season
AVG Batting average
OBP On-base percentage
SLG Slugging percentage
HR Home runs
RBI Runs batted in
Ref References
* or ** Winner of the most Silver Sluggers in Major League Baseball as a designated hitter (** indicates tie)
† Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

American League winners

Edgar Martínez won four Silver Slugger Awards at DH, tied for second-most.
Paul Molitor won four Silver Slugger Awards at DH, tied for second-most.
Year Player Team AVG OBP SLG HR RBI Ref
1980 Reggie Jackson† New York Yankees .300 .398 .597 41 111 [15]
1981 Al Oliver Texas Rangers .309 .348 .411 4 55 [16]
1982 Hal McRae Kansas City Royals .308 .369 .542 27 133 [17]
1983 Don Baylor New York Yankees .303 .361 .494 21 85 [18]
1984 Andre Thornton Cleveland Indians .271 .366 .484 33 99 [19]
1985 Don Baylor (2) New York Yankees .231 .330 .430 23 91 [20]
1986 Don Baylor (3) Boston Red Sox .238 .344 .439 31 94 [21]
1987 Paul Molitor† Milwaukee Brewers .353 .438 .566 16 75 [22]
1988 Paul Molitor† (2) Milwaukee Brewers .312 .384 .452 13 60 [23]
1989 Harold Baines† Chicago White Sox
Texas Rangers		 .309 .395 .465 16 72 [24]
[25]
1990 Dave Parker Milwaukee Brewers .289 .330 .451 21 92 [26]
1991 Frank Thomas† Chicago White Sox .318 .453 .553 32 109 [27]
1992 Dave Winfield† Toronto Blue Jays .290 .377 .491 26 108 [28]
1993 Paul Molitor† (3) Toronto Blue Jays .332 .402 .509 22 111 [29]
1994 Julio Franco Chicago White Sox .319 .406 .510 20 98 [30]
1995 Edgar Martínez† Seattle Mariners .356 .479 .628 29 113 [31]
1996 Paul Molitor† (4) Minnesota Twins .341 .390 .468 9 113 [32]
1997 Edgar Martínez† (2) Seattle Mariners .330 .456 .554 28 108 [33]
1998 Jose Canseco Toronto Blue Jays .237 .318 .518 46 107 [34]
1999 Rafael Palmeiro Texas Rangers .324 .420 .630 47 148 [35]
2000 Frank Thomas† Chicago White Sox .328 .436 .625 43 143 [36]
2001 Edgar Martínez† (3) Seattle Mariners .306 .423 .543 23 116 [37]
2002 Manny Ramirez Boston Red Sox .349 .450 .647 33 107 [38]
2003 Edgar Martínez† (4) Seattle Mariners .294 .406 .489 24 98 [39]
2004 David Ortiz*† Boston Red Sox .301 .380 .603 41 139 [40]
2005 David Ortiz*† (2) Boston Red Sox .300 .397 .604 47 148 [41]
2006 David Ortiz*† (3) Boston Red Sox .287 .413 .636 54 137 [42]
2007 David Ortiz*† (4) Boston Red Sox .332 .445 .621 35 117 [43]
2008 Aubrey Huff Baltimore Orioles .304 .360 .552 32 108 [44]
2009 Adam Lind Toronto Blue Jays .305 .370 .562 35 114 [45]
2010 Vladimir Guerrero† Texas Rangers .300 .345 .496 29 115 [46]
2011 David Ortiz*† (5) Boston Red Sox .309 .398 .554 29 96 [47]
2012 Billy Butler Kansas City Royals .313 .373 .510 29 107 [48]
2013 David Ortiz*† (6) Boston Red Sox .309 .395 .564 30 103 [49]
2014 Víctor Martínez Detroit Tigers .335 .409 .565 32 103 [50]
2015 Kendrys Morales Kansas City Royals .290 .362 .485 22 106 [51]
2016 David Ortiz*† (7) Boston Red Sox .315 .401 .620 38 127 [52]
2017 Nelson Cruz Seattle Mariners .288 .375 .549 39 119 [53]
2018 J. D. Martinez Boston Red Sox .330 .402 .629 43 130 [54]
2019 Nelson Cruz (2) Minnesota Twins .311 .392 .639 41 108 [55]
2020 Nelson Cruz (3) Minnesota Twins .303 .397 .595 16 33 [56]
2021 Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Angels .257 .372 .592 46 100 [57]
2022 Yordan Alvarez Houston Astros .306 .406 .613 37 97 [58]
2023 Shohei Ohtani (2) Los Angeles Angels .304 .412 .654 44 95 [59]

National League winners

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the temporary implementation of a universal DH during the shortened season. A Silver Slugger Award for designated hitter in the National League was given for the first time. Starting in 2022, the National League adopted the designated hitter permanently, and the pitcher Silver Slugger Award was retired in favor of a similar honor for NL designated hitters.

Year Player Team AVG OBP SLG HR RBI Ref
2020 Marcell Ozuna Atlanta Braves .338 .431 .636 18 56 [60]
2021 National League designated hitters' Silver Slugger Award not given
2022 Josh Bell Washington Nationals
San Diego Padres		 .266 .362 .422 17 71 [61]
[62]
2023 Bryce Harper Philadelphia Phillies .293 .401 .499 21 72 [63]

See also

References

  • "MLB Awards: History (Awards: Silver Slugger)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
Inline citations
  1. ^ a b c McCalvy, Adam (November 13, 2008). "Braun nets first Silver Slugger Award". Brewers.MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
  2. ^ "Louisville Slugger - The Silver Slugger Awards". Louisville Slugger. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
  3. ^ "What are the Silver Bat and Silver Slugger Team Awards?". Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  4. ^ "Silver Slugger Award Winners — American League". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
  5. ^ "Official Rules: 6.00 The Batter". Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
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  7. ^ a b c "David Ortiz Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
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