Six Blue Jays nominated for Silver Slugger Award
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The Toronto Blue Jays have six players nominated as American League Silver Slugger Award finalists, MLB announced Thursday.
Catcher Alejandro Kirk, shortstop Bo Bichette, outfielders George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez, third baseman Matt Chapman and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. all received nominations, awarded each year to the best offensive player at his position.
It is Kirk's first career Silver Slugger nomination while Guerrero and Hernandez each won the award in 2021. Bichette was a finalist last season but the award ultimately went to Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox while Springer and Chapman each secure their first nominations as members of the Blue Jays.
The 23-year-old Kirk slashed .285/.372/.415 with 14 home runs and 63 RBI in 139 games last season, making the AL All-Star Team for the first time in his career.
A native of Tijuana, Mexico, Kirk finished tops among all catchers in baseball with a 129 wRC+, a stat that measures overall offensive output against a league average baseline while accounting for external factors. J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies was second (128) while the next top AL catcher was Oakland's Sean Murphy at 122. This year was Kirk's third with the Blue Jays but his first full season as he appeared in just nine games in 2020 and 60 in 2021.
Guerrero, 23, turned in his second consecutive All-Star season in 2022 but finished with numbers well below his offensive output from a season before in most statistical categories. Still, Guerrero turned in a nice season, tallying 32 home runs, 97 RBI, a slash line of .274/.339/.480 and a wRC+ of 132, which was fourth among AL first baseman and 11 points lower than leader Jose Abreu.
For most of 2022, Bichette struggled to match his production from the season before at the plate but came on strong over the final month of the campaign, finishing with 24 home runs and 93 RBI. He was tops among AL shortstops in RBIs, second in home runs and third in wRC+ (129) behind Bogaerts (134) and Texas' Corey Seager (140).
Springer struggled with an elbow injury for much of the 2022 season but was a force at the plate when healthy, tallying 25 home runs and 76 RBI in 133 games. He made the AL All-Star Team for the fourth time in his career and first since joining the Jays two off-seasons ago.
Chapman was acquired by Toronto in a trade with the Oakland Athletics last winter and while he just just .229, Chapman was tied for third among AL third basemen with 27 home runs.
Hernandez hit 25 homers and drove in 77 while slashing .267/.316/.491 in 131 games. It was his sixth season in Toronto after beginning his career with the Houston Astros.