The Dodgers won a pair of National League Silver Slugger Awards on Thursday, one for star Shohei Ohtani and another as the best team on offense in the circuit. Voting is done by league managers and up to three coaches from each team.
It’s the fourth Silver Slugger Award for Ohtani as the top designated hitter in his league over the last five years, and his third in a row, including both seasons in Los Angeles.
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Ohtani hit .282/.392/.622 with 55 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 146 runs scored, 102 RBI, and a 172 wRC+.
He is the first player ever to hit at least 50 home runs steal at least 20 bases in multiple seasons, doing so in both 2024-25 with the Dodgers. His 146 runs set a modern-era Dodgers record and was just the seventh season scoring at least that many runs since integration in 1947.
Ohtani led the majors in runs, total bases (380), and extra-base hits (89), and led the National League in slugging percentage, OPS (1.014), wOBA (.418), weighted runs created (148), OPS+ (179), and wRC+.
Ohtani is also in the top three in National League MVP voting by the Baseball Writers Association. He’s expected to win that award when it is announced next Thursday, November 13, which would be Ohtani’s fourth MVP award and third in a row.
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Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, and Will Smith were all also in the top three in voting at their position for a Silver Slugger Award, but the honors at their positions went to Pete Alonso at first base, Manny Machado at third, and Hunter Goodman of the Rockies at catcher.
Smith was pretty clearly the best-hitting catcher in the National League, at .296/.404/.497 with a 153 wRC+, compared to .278/.323/.520 with a 118 wRC+ for Goodman. But this is wear Smith’s hairline fracture in his right hand cost him, in addition to missing 22 of the final 23 games of the regular season.
Goodman batted 143 more times than Smith and was able to compile more numbers in bulk, like 31 home runs, 28 doubles, five triples, and 91 RBI compared to 17 home runs, 20 doubles, one triple, and 61 RBI for Smith, for instance. In total Weighted Runs Created (wRC), which is not park adjusted, Goodman outpaced Smith there as well, 90-78.
The Silver Slugger team award started in 2023, honoring the best offensive team in each league. The Dodgers have won each of the last two seasons. This year the Dodgers lead the National League in runs scored (5.09 per game), slugging percentage (.441), OPS (.768), home runs (244), total bases (2,415), and wRC+ (113).