Soto wins first Silver Slugger Award of career

Juan Soto's massive offensive numbers in a shortened season weren't enough to earn the Nationals star left fielder a top-three finish in the MVP race, but they were enough to earn him a Silver Slugger Award.

Soto's victory was revealed tonight, the first of a career that figures to include plenty more of these awards and perhaps an MVP or two as well. He was one of three National League outfielders to win the honor, joining the Dodgers' Mookie Betts and the Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. atop the voting conducted among managers and coaches at the end of the regular season.

"I am so happy to win this award," Soto said in a statement released by the Nationals. "Thank you to the opposing managers and coaches who voted for me. I am proud to be a part of this year's talented group of award winners. I want to thank Dave Martinez, Kevin Long, Pat Roessler, Troy Gingrich and the rest of the staff for working with me and pushing me to be the best I can be. I also want to thank my family who is there to support me each and every day."

Soto, who just turned 22 last week, won the NL batting title with a .351 average and led the majors in on-base percentage (.490), slugging percentage (.695) and OPS (1.185). Despite playing in only 47 of the season's 60 games, he still ranked among the league leaders in walks, runs and homers.

Those missed games (including the first eight of the season after what he believes was a false positive test for COVID-19) probably cost Soto series consideration for MVP. Full balloting for that prestigious award will be revealed next Thursday, but we already know he didn't finish higher than fourth place after the top three finishers (Betts, Freddie Freeman, Manny Machado) were announced earlier this week.

Soto becomes the 10th Nationals player to win a Silver Slugger Award, joining Alfonso Soriano (2006), Ryan Zimmerman (2009, 2010), Adam LaRoche (2012), Stephen Strasburg (2012), Ian Desmond (2012, 2013, 2014), Anthony Rendon (2014, 2019), Bryce Harper (2015), Wilson Ramos (2016) and Daniel Murphy (2016, 2017).

"Congratulations to Juan on his first Silver Slugger Award and his incredible 2020 season as a whole," general manager Mike Rizzo said in a statement released by the club. "He continues to show that he is one of the top offensive players in Major League Baseball. This well-deserved honor is another addition to his growing list of tremendous accomplishments."