Tonight, two Washington Nationals were able to win Louisville Silver Slugger awards for the first time at their positions
Awards season continued tonight in baseball as the Louisville Silver Slugger Awards were announced on MLB Network. This year, two Washington Nationals were able to win awards at their positions in the National League. Those Nats were second baseman Daniel Murphy and catcher Wilson Ramos (now a free agent).
For Murphy, this is his first Silver Slugger Award of his career. He had a career season in 2016 as he led the league in slugging percentage (.595) and OPS (.985) while hitting .347 with 25 home runs and 104 RBI’s.
Last night, Murphy was named the Most Outstanding Player in the National League during the Player’s Choice Awards. The two-time NL All-Star is also one of the three finalists for NL MVP along with Kris Bryant (Cubs) and Corey Seager (Dodgers). That award will be announced a week from tonight on MLB Network.
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If you look at where Murphy ranked amongst all National League second basemen, he had the most RBI’s, was second in batting average and home runs, and finished third in WAR (4.6).
As for Ramos, he also picked up his first Silver Slugger award. This season, Ramos had a career year. He had a slash line of .307/.354/.496 with 22 home runs and 80 RBI’s. He had career-high totals in home runs and RBI’s and made it to his first All-Star Game.
Amongst all National League catchers, he was tied with Buster Posey for the most in the NL, had the highest slugging percentage, and was second in home runs (Yasmani Grandal had 27). His 3.3 WAR was also second in the NL behind Posey (4.7).
During the first half of the season, Murphy (.348) and Ramos (.330) each hit over .300 and were by far the top two hitters in terms of batting average on the Washington Nationals (Harper was third at .256)/ Plus, they were the top two in hits (Murphy had 117, Ramos had 88).
Next: The Future Of Bryce Harper
This is the fifth straight season where a Washington Nationals player has won a Silver Slugger Award. Last year, Bryce Harper was one of the outfielders that took home a Silver Slugger. Other winners since 2012 include former shortstop Ian Desmond (2012-2014), current third baseman Anthony Rendon (2014), and pitcher Stephen Strasburg and first baseman Adam LaRoche won the award in 2012.