Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts take home Silver Slugger awards

After the Gold Gloves were handed out last Sunday, the offensive version of the award was given out on Thursday. Although the Red Sox had an undeniably disappointing year in 2019, it was not really due to their offense. They had candidates to take home Silver Sluggers all over the diamond, though few were a sure thing. Despite all of their candidates, they ended up having two winners. The Twins and Astros also had two in the American League, while over in the National League the Braves had three winners.

For the Red Sox, the two winners were Xander Bogaerts at shortstop and Mookie Betts in the outfield. For the former, this was his third Silver Slugger, with the other two coming in 2015 and 2016. Betts also won his third, previously grabbing them in 2016 and 2018. Bogaerts finished the year hitting .309/.384/.555 for a 141 wRC+, just barely edging out Marcus Semien in the latter category by four points. Betts, in what was at times perceived as a down year, hit .295/.391/.524 for a 135 wRC+. That last mark ranked fifth (not counting J.D. Martinez) among American League outfielders. Betts was the only American League player to win both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger, and he was joined by J.T. Realmuto and Zack Greinke in the National League.

Some potential snubs for the Red Sox included Rafael Devers (132 wRC+), J.D. Martinez (139 wRC+) and Christian Vázquez (102 wRC+). They all had very strong seasons at the plate, but the players who finished ahead of them were certainly deserving.

The full list of winners is below.

American League

C: Mitch Garvers, MIN

1B: Carlos Santana, CLE

2B: DJ LeMahieu, NYY

3B: Alex Bregman, HOU

SS: Xander Bogaerts, BOS

OF: Mookie Betts, BOS

OF: Mike Trout, LAA

OF: George Springer, HOU

DH: Nelson Cruz, MIN

National League

C: J.T. Realmuto, PHI

1B: Freddie Freeman, ATL

2B: Ozzie Albies, ATL

3B: Anthony Rendon, WAS

SS: Trevor Story, SS

OF: Christian Yelich, MIL

OF: Cody Bellinger, LAD

OF: Ronald Acuña Jr., ATL

P: Zack Greinkie, ARZ