With the Commissioner’s Trophy already in hand, Milwaukee Brewers players will now seek to add to their personal trophy cases based on what they did throughout the regular season. This morning, three Brewers, plus the team itself, are up for Silver Slugger awards, which are presented to the best hitter at each position and team.
There is no doubt that the Brewers offense was cooking from the very beginning. If you’re looking at stats league-wide, the Brewers had the highest batting average (.258),
highest on-base percentage (.341), and were third in OPS (.744). Outside of those numbers, they were top five in every offensive category except for triples (T-6th most) and, of course, home runs, which they had the second fewest.
They’ll be competing with the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Washington Nationals for best offensive team this season. Out of the teams above, the Cubs have the Brewers beat in runs scored, home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage. As for the Nationals, they have them beat in doubles, triples, and home runs. And for the Dodgers, only home runs and SLG% do they have more of, but as we know, that wasn’t the brand of baseball that the Crew played this season.
Depending on what you’d like to call a more successful offense, the team award could be close, but objectively, the Brewers play a more complete brand of baseball, filling each category. As for the players who made that happen, Jake Bauers was nominated for a Silver Slugger as a first baseman and a utility man, Brice Turang for second base, and Jackson Chourio for left fielders.
You can’t say the Brewers won the World Series without mentioning Jake Bauers, both in the postseason and what he put together in the regular season. Bauers is coming off his best regular season of his career, batting a line of .266/.389/.874. While his line was all career highs, so were his totals in hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, and walks. Of course, just because you have a breakout season doesn’t mean you necessarily deserve the best hitter award for that position.
Bauers will be going up against Alex Burleson of the St. Louis Cardinals, Rafael Devers of the San Francisco Giants, and Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves. Burleson will be trying to win his second straight Silver Slugger, Devers his third, and Olson his first. On top of the first baseman, he’ll also be vying for the utility Silver Slugger award too, and yes, it’s possible to win the award at multiple positions, but it’s only happened once. J.D. Martinez did it in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox as the designated hitter and an outfielder.
Turang has much less competition, but it comes from within the division as he’ll compete with Brandon Lowe of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the award. Turang already captured the Gold Glove from Lowe, and now he seeks his first career Silver Slugger award after posting a .268 AVG with 21 home runs and 90 walks. Lowe will be facing the same circumstances, as he has never won a Silver Slugger either, but once again, it comes down to what you value more. Lowe had a phenomenal first season with the Pirates, smashing 35 home runs while driving in 96 runs at the same time, but his batting average was .260, and he only walked 62 times.
Finally, Chourio will be looking to secure his first Silver Slugger award, continuing the trend of first-time winners this offseason. To make it more special, he’ll be going up against Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Jordan Walker, and James Wood, who are all also seeking their first award. Fernando Tatis Jr. will be looking for his third Silver Slugger award while Corbin Carroll goes for his second all-time.
It’s important to note that Chourio is coming off of his best regular season of his career, crushing 25 home runs. He became the only player in MLB history to record three 20-homer, 20-steal seasons before turning 23. While postseason success isn’t factored in, it’ll be hard not to think about the amazing moments all three of these hitters produced.
If Bauers, Turang, and Chourio all win at their respective positions, they will tie the 1980 Brewers team for the most Silver Sluggers won in a season. If Bauers wins both the utility position and first base, it would then turn it into the most awards won by an offense in Brewers franchise history.
The winners will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
