Washington Nationals News: Bryce Harper earns first NL Silver Slugger Award
By Pablo Roa
Good evening DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily. Get caught up on the latest Nats news and opinions with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s Daily, Andrew Simon of MLB.com discusses yet another accolade for Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper after a historically good 2015 campaign. As Simon notes in his article, Harper earned his first career Silver Slugger Award Thursday night.
Harper was arguably the best player in baseball last season, hitting .330 with 42 home runs and 99 RBIs. The 23-year-old becomes the seventh player in Nationals history to earn a Silver Slugger Award, joining Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon, Adam LaRoche, Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Alfonso Soriano.
It’s been a busy offseason for Harper, who took home the NL Hank Aaron award earlier this offseason and could pick up his first MVP Award next Thursday. Harper was also voted the National League’s most outstanding player earlier this week.
Also in today’s Daily, MLB.com’s Richard Justice discusses how general manager Mike Rizzo and the Nationals have the talent and foundation necessary to win for a long time, despite their disappointing 2015 season.
Be sure to check out both articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals needs.
Harper collects first NL Silver Slugger Award
Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was named a National League Silver Slugger Award winner in the outfield for the first time in his career, it was announced Thursday.
Harper, who turned 23 on Oct. 16, is the only player in Major League Baseball history with at least 42 home runs, 124 walks and 118 runs scored at age 22 or younger, and is the youngest player in MLB history with at least 42 home runs and 124 walks in a season. The previous youngest was Babe Ruth, who hit 54 home runs and had 150 walks in 1920 at the age of 25. Read full article here.
Down year doesn’t deter Nationals’ Rizzo
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Once he was able to digest the whole disappointing season, Nationals general manager and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo took a couple of deep breaths and arrived at two reasonable conclusions:
• He’s going to have a team good enough to win the World Series in 2016. This he knows. This he’s convinced of.
• His top-to-bottom organization remains excellent, and it is positioned to remain competitive for a long time. Read full article here.