The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball (MLB). These voters consider several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, in addition to "coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value". Managers and coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. The Silver Slugger was first awarded in 1980 and is given by Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger bats. The award is a bat-shaped trophy, 3 feet (91 cm) tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with sterling silver.
As with the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, the prize is presented to outfielders irrespective of their specific position. This means that it is possible for three left fielders, or any other combination of outfielders, to win the award in the same year, rather than one left fielder, one center fielder, and one right fielder. It is also possible for outfield teammates to win the award in the same season, which has happened eight times since 1980.
Among outfielders and among all Silver Slugger winners, Barry Bonds has won the most awards, winning twelve times between 1990 and 2004. All of his awards were won in the National League. Mike Trout leads the American League with nine wins, followed by Manny Ramirez with eight. Ken Griffey Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, and Tony Gwynn have each won seven Silver Sluggers in the outfield; Mookie Betts, Juan González, Kirby Puckett, Sammy Sosa and Juan Soto have won six times. Four players have won five times (Albert Belle, Ryan Braun, Aaron Judge and Dave Winfield), and four-time winners include Andre Dawson, Matt Holliday, Andrew McCutchen, Dale Murphy and Gary Sheffield. There have also been 12 three-time outfield winners and 29 two-time awardees. The most recent winners are Corbin Carroll, Juan Soto, and Kyle Tucker in the National League, and Byron Buxton, Riley Greene and Aaron Judge in the American League.
Gwynn posted the highest batting average in an outfielder's winning season, batting .394 in the 1994 season before it was truncated by the players' strike. Magglio Ordóñez' 2007 average is the best in the American League (.363). Bonds, the overall leader, holds three records: on-base percentage (.609 in 2004), slugging percentage (.863 in 2001) and home runs (73 in 2001). The American League leaders in those categories include Belle (.714 slugging percentage in 1994), Aaron Judge (62 home runs in 2022), and Trout (.460 on-base percentage in 2018). Ramírez also leads both leagues in runs batted in (RBI) during an outfielder's winning season, with 165 in 1999. Sosa is the National League leader (160 RBI in 2001).
Key Year Links to the corresponding Major League Baseball season AVG Batting average OBP On-base percentage SLG Slugging percentage HR Home runs RBI Runs batted in Ref References * Winner of the most Silver Sluggers in Major League Baseball as an outfielder † Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
American League winners
Year Player Team AVG OBP SLG HR RBI Ref Milwaukee Brewers .304 .362 .563 41 118 Texas Rangers .319 .357 .480 19 117 Kansas City Royals .326 .357 .421 3 49 Boston Red Sox .296 .415 .522 22 71 † Oakland Athletics .319 .408 .437 6 35 † New York Yankees .294 .360 .464 13 68 † California Angels .275 .375 .532 39 101 (2) Kansas City Royals .332 .365 .431 3 46 † (2) New York Yankees .280 .331 .560 37 106 Toronto Blue Jays .315 .376 .499 18 81 † Boston Red Sox .305 .361 .550 39 126 † (3) New York Yankees .283 .345 .513 32 116 Boston Red Sox .268 .300 .531 43 123 † (2) Boston Red Sox .280 .323 .467 28 122 † (4) New York Yankees .340 .393 .515 19 100 Toronto Blue Jays .275 .327 .479 28 95 † (2) New York Yankees .314 .419 .516 24 72 † (5) New York Yankees .275 .328 .471 26 114 Toronto Blue Jays .289 .368 .559 40 108 (2) Toronto Blue Jays .309 .349 .532 31 108 † Minnesota Twins .328 .366 .537 31 96 (3) Toronto Blue Jays .308 .352 .605 47 134 (2) Boston Red Sox .305 .417 .569 34 123 † (2) Minnesota Twins .332 .367 .534 28 99 Oakland Athletics .307 .391 .569 42 124 Boston Red Sox .325 .416 .531 22 119 † (3) Minnesota Twins .356 .375 .545 24 121 † (4) Minnesota Twins .339 .379 .465 9 85 Texas Rangers .306 .347 .543 29 119 † Milwaukee Brewers .318 .384 .511 21 103 Boston Red Sox .296 .349 .486 21 89 (2) Oakland Athletics .274 .371 .543 37 101 † (3) Oakland Athletics .325 .439 .577 28 61 (3) Oakland Athletics .266 .359 .556 44 122 Toronto Blue Jays .273 .330 .503 33 108 † Seattle Mariners .327 .399 .527 22 100 (2) Toronto Blue Jays .264 .309 .498 34 119 Texas Rangers .260 .304 .529 43 109 † (5) Minnesota Twins .329 .374 .490 19 110 Cleveland Indians .290 .370 .552 38 129 (2) Texas Rangers .310 .368 .632 46 118 † (2) Seattle Mariners .309 .408 .617 45 109 (2) Cleveland Indians .357 .438 .714 36 101 † (3) Seattle Mariners .323 .402 .674 40 90 † (6) Minnesota Twins .317 .362 .540 20 112 (3) Cleveland Indians .317 .401 .690 50 126 Cleveland Indians .308 .402 .558 31 107 California Angels .330 .429 .594 34 105 (4) Cleveland Indians .311 .410 .623 48 148 (3) Texas Rangers .314 .368 .643 47 144 † (4) Seattle Mariners .303 .392 .628 49 140 (2) Cleveland Indians .329 .418 .596 33 101 (4) Texas Rangers .296 .335 .589 42 131 † (5) Seattle Mariners .304 .382 .646 56 147 (5) Chicago White Sox .328 .399 .655 49 152 (5) Texas Rangers .318 .366 .630 45 157 † (6) Seattle Mariners .284 .365 .611 56 146 Toronto Blue Jays .309 .384 .588 42 123 † (7) Seattle Mariners .285 .384 .576 48 134 (2) Cleveland Indians .333 .442 .663 44 165 Anaheim Angels .355 .409 .541 25 100 Chicago White Sox .315 .371 .546 32 126 (3) Cleveland Indians .351 .457 .697 38 122 (6) Cleveland Indians .325 .370 .590 35 140 (4) Boston Red Sox .306 .405 .609 41 125 Seattle Mariners .350 .381 .457 8 69 Anaheim Angels .306 .332 .539 29 123 (2) Chicago White Sox .320 .381 .597 38 135 New York Yankees .333 .415 .493 19 102 (2) Anaheim Angels .315 .345 .541 29 116 (5) Boston Red Sox .325 .427 .587 37 104 Toronto Blue Jays .317 .359 .550 33 117 † (4) Anaheim Angels .337 .391 .598 39 126 (6) Boston Red Sox .308 .397 .613 43 130 (3) New York Yankees .290 .393 .534 36 121 † (5) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim .317 .394 .565 32 108 (7) Boston Red Sox .292 .388 .594 45 144 (4) New York Yankees .291 .379 .512 34 123 Chicago White Sox .315 .385 .622 44 120 † (6) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim .329 .382 .552 33 116 (8) Boston Red Sox .321 .439 .619 35 102 † (7) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim .324 .403 .547 27 125 (3) Detroit Tigers .363 .434 .595 28 139 (2) Seattle Mariners .351 .396 .431 6 68 Texas Rangers .304 .371 .530 32 130 Chicago White Sox .288 .394 .571 36 100 Cleveland Indians .268 .374 .502 33 90 Boston Red Sox .267 .384 .537 36 119 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim .299 .366 .508 22 90 (3) Seattle Mariners .352 .386 .465 11 46 Toronto Blue Jays .260 .378 .465 54 124 Tampa Bay Rays .307 .356 .495 19 90 (2) Texas Rangers .359 .411 .633 32 100 New York Yankees .262 .364 .552 41 119 (2) Toronto Blue Jays .302 .447 .608 43 103 Boston Red Sox .321 .376 .552 32 105 (3) Texas Rangers .285 .354 .577 43 128 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim .326 .399 .564 30 83 Minnesota Twins .260 .366 .524 35 110 (2) Detroit Tigers .304 .334 .465 17 84 Baltimore Orioles .285 .318 .493 33 108 (2) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim .323 .432 .557 27 97 (3) Toronto Blue Jays .286 .403 .524 35 103 Cleveland Indians .327 .385 .506 20 97 (3) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim .287 .377 .561 36 111 Seattle Mariners .302 .369 .419 44 93 Detroit Tigers .282 .344 .535 38 102 (4) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim .299 .402 .590 41 90 Boston Red Sox .318 .363 .534 31 113 (5) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim .315 .441 .550 29 100 Baltimore Orioles .256 .316 .533 47 108 New York Yankees .284 .422 .627 52 114 Houston Astros .283 .367 .522 34 85 Detroit TigersLos Angeles Angels .273 .361 .540 35 109 (2) Boston Red Sox .346 .438 .640 32 80 (2) Boston Red Sox .330 .402 .629 43 130 (6) Los Angeles Angels .312 .460 .628 39 79 (3) Boston Red Sox .295 .391 .524 29 80 (2) Houston Astros .292 .383 .581 39 96 (7) Los Angeles Angels .291 .438 .645 45 104 Toronto Blue Jays .289 .340 .579 16 34 Chicago White Sox .296 .332 .559 14 41 (8) Los Angeles Angels .281 .390 .603 17 46 (2) Toronto Blue Jays .296 .346 .524 32 116 (2) New York Yankees .287 .373 .544 39 98 Baltimore Orioles .291 .360 .518 30 59 (3) New York Yankees .311 .425 .686 62 131 Seattle Mariners .284 .345 .549 28 75 (9) Los Angeles Angels .283 .369 .630 40 80 Chicago White Sox .264 .315 .542 38 80 (2) Seattle Mariners .275 .333 .485 32 103 Houston Astros .284 .369 .517 29 112 (4) New York Yankees .322 .458 .701 58 144 Baltimore Orioles .235 .308 .506 44 102 (5) New York Yankees .288 .419 .569 41 109 Minnesota Twins .264 .327 .551 35 83 Detroit Tigers .258 .313 .493 36 111 (5) New York Yankees .331 .457 .688 53 114
National League winners