Red Sox infielders Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers have been named finalists for 2022 Silver Slugger Awards, Louisville Slugger and Major League Baseball announced on Thursday.
Bogaerts is a finalist at shortstop along with Toronto’s Bo Bichette, Minnesota’s Carlos Correa, and Texas’ Corey Seager. He has already won the award on four separate occasions (2015, 2016, 2019, 2021).
Devers is a finalist at third base along with Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez, Houston’s Alex Bregman, and Toronto’s Matt Chapman. He won the award for the first time last year. And so Devers and Bogaerts will be looking to go back-to-back at their respective positions.
Already a finalist for a Gold Glove Award, Bogaerts finished third in the American League batting title race this season. The right-handed hitter batted a stout .307/.377/.456 with 38 doubles, 15 home runs, 73 RBIs, 84 runs scored, eight stolen bases, 57 walks, and 118 strikeouts over 150 games and 631 plate appearances.
Between the three other shortstops he will be competing with, Bogaerts ranked first in batting average, first in on-base percentage, third in slugging percentage, second in OPS (.833), first in wOBA (.363), and second in wRC+ (134), per FanGraphs.
Devers, meanwhile, is already a finalist for the Hank Aaron Award. The left-handed hitter slashed .295/.358/.521 with 42 doubles, one triple, 27 home runs, 88 RBIs, 84 runs scored, three stolen bases, 50 walks, and 114 strikeouts across 141 games (614 plate appearances) for the Red Sox this season.
In terms of how he stacked up against the three other third base finalists, Devers ranked first in batting average, second in on-base percentage, first in slugging percentage, first in OPS (.879), first in wOBA (.373), and first in wRC+ (141), according to FanGraphs.
The group of outfield finalists from the National League includes three former Red Sox in the Brewers’ Hunter Renfroe, the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, and the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber.
Silver Slugger Awards have been handed out since 1980 to recognize the best offensive players at each position in each league. Voting is conducted by major-league managers and coaches, though they cannot vote for players on their own teams.
This year’s Silver Slugger Award winners will be revealed on Thursday, November 10 during an hour-long special on MLB Network that begins at 6 p.m. eastern time.
(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
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