Mookie Betts and Trea Turner both won a 2022 Silver Slugger Award, but the Los Angeles Dodgers had fellow National League finalists Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Chris Taylor and Justin Turner fall short.
Betts won the fifth Silver Slugger of his career, and second in the past three seasons. He hit .269/.340/.533 with 40 doubles, 35 home runs and 82 RBI this season. Betts tied for the NL lead with 117 runs scored, set a career high in home runs and was touted as being the spark plug for the Dodgers lineup.
Other hardware Betts has taken home this offseason are a Gold Glove Award and fifth career Fielding Bible Award. Betts and Freeman additionally were NL finalists for the 2022 Hank Aaron Award, which went to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt.
Goldschmidt also took home the Silver Slugger among NL first basemen, snapping Freeman’s streak of winning the award at three consecutive seasons. Freeman nevertheless enjoyed a successful first season with the Dodgers that saw him bat .325/.407/.511 with 47 doubles, 21 home runs and 100 RBI.
Freeman led the Majors with 199 hits and in doubles. His on-base percentage and runs scored (117) were tops in the NL; and Freeman ranked second in the league in batting average, on-base plus slugging (.918), wOBA (.393) and wRC+ (157).
The Silver Slugger Award is a first for Trea Turner, who arguably headlines the group of Dodgers free agents. Turner hit .298/.343/.466 with 39 doubles, 21 home runs and 100 RBI in his first full season with the Dodgers.
Turner finished second to Freeman for the MLB lead in hits, which made them the first set to teammates to accomplish that feat since Brett Boone and Ichiro Suzuki did so with the 2001 Seattle Mariners.
Smith again was one of the top catchers in baseball as he hit .260/.343/.465 with 26 doubles, 24 home runs and 87 RBI. Philadelphia Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto edged Smith and other finalists the Silver Slugger Award among NL catchers.
Taylor hit .221/.304/.373 with 25 doubles, 10 home runs and 43 RBI but fell short of expectations due to prolonged stretches of inconsistency. He additionally suffered from a neck injury late in the season for a second consecutive year.
Brandon Drury of the San Diego Padres won the Silver Slugger for NL utility players. This year was the first time a utility position was recognized for Silver Slugger and Gold Glove.
Justin Turner was named a finalist at both third base and designated. The Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado won the Silver Slugger for NL third basemen, and the Padres’ Josh Bell was the recipient at DH.
Turner overcame a slow start to finish the season batting .278/.350/.438 with a career-high 36 doubles to go along with 13 home runs and 81 RBI.
Dodgers roster decisions
Prior to Thursday’s deadline, the Dodgers extended the $19.65 million qualifying offer to Tyler Anderson and Trea Turner, but not Clayton Kershaw. Anderson and Turner now have until November 20 to accept to reject the one-year contract.
The Dodgers also declined their $16 million team option on Justin Turner for the 2023 season. Turner received a $2 million buyout and became a free agent.
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