Voit is finalist for NL Silver Slugger Award

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

October 27, 2022, 12:57pm

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Despite a performance he deemed substandard by his career norms, Luke Voit nonetheless received at least some support for a Silver Slugger Award this season.

The 31-year-old, acquired by the Nationals in this summer's Juan Soto-Josh Bell blockbuster trade, was revealed today as one of six finalists for the Silver Slugger among National League designated hitters. Winners at every position will be announced Nov. 11.

Owner of an .818 OPS over the entirety of his six-year career with the Cardinals, Yankees, Padres and Nationals, Voit finished the 2022 season with career lows in batting average (.226), on-base percentage (.308), slugging percentage (.402) and OPS (.710). His 22 homers matched a career high, though he set that mark during the 60-game, pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when he actually led the American League.

Silver Slugger Awards are selected by managers and coaches, who submitted their votes in late September. Voit joins Bell (listed only as a Padre), Albert Pujols, Justin Turner, Charlie Blackmon and Bryce Harper as finalists. There is no second round of voting still to come. The "finalists" were merely those players who received votes.

No other Nationals players received Silver Slugger votes this season, though Soto was named a finalist among NL outfielders. Like Bell, he was listed only as a member of the Padres, even though he spent more of the season playing for Washington.