Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts was named a 2022 Silver Slugger Award winner on Thursday night. The announcement was made on MLB Network.
Bogaerts and third baseman Rafael Devers were both named finalists at their respective positions last month. The former beat out Toronto’s Bo Bichette, Minnesota’s Carolos Correa, and Texas’ Corey Seager while the latter came up short against Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez.
In the National League, former Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts won his second silver Slugger Award as a member of the Dodgers and his fifth overall. Kyle Schwarber, on the other hand, won his first career Silver Slugger Award as a member of the Phillies.
This is Bogaerts’ fifth career Silver Slugger Award and his third in the last four seasons. The 30-year-old infielder becomes just the fourth player in Red Sox history to win at least five Silver Sluggers with the club, joining David Ortiz (7), Wade Boggs (6), and Manny Ramirez (5). He also becomes the fifth shortstop to win at least five Silver Sluggers since the award was first introduced in 1980.
Bogaerts finished third in the American League batting title race this season behind Minnesota’s Luiz Arraez and New York’s Aaron Judge, who also received Silver Slugger Awards on Thursday. In 150 games with Boston, the right-handed hitter slashed .307/.377/.456 with 38 doubles, 15 home runs, 73 RBIs, 84 runs scored, eight stolen bases, 57 walks, and 118 strikeouts over 631 plate appearances.
Among qualified American League shortstops, 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.
Bogaerts officially become a free agent on Monday after opting out of the final three years and $60 million of his contract. The Red Sox extended the native Aruban a $19.65 million qualifying offer on Thursday, but he is expected to reject it within the next 10 days in order to pursue a more lucrative, longer-term deal on the open market.
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