Astros Rack up FIVE Silver Slugger Finalists
- Stros Talk
- Oct 25, 2021
- 5 min read
Gordon Liang
10/25/2021
I guess hitting without knowing what’s coming isn’t that hard after all. On Monday afternoon, Mark Feinsand released the finalists for baseball’s most prestigious hitting award. The best offense in baseball co-led the way with five finalists. The other three teams to lead along with Houston included the best team in the National League, the American League Wild Card exits and the evicted Blue Jays. The Astros are the only team amongst the leaders without any nominees having a wRC+ below 120. The Blue Jays have Lourdes Gurriel as a finalist but he posted a 107 wRC+ in 2021. So did Ozzie Albies of the Braves who was also nominated. The Braves have a funny situation where their most likely winner, Max Fried, is the worst hitter amongst those in Atlanta nominated. The Yankees are not exempt from having undeserving finalists with DJ Lemahieu posting an exactly-average 100 wRC+ and Gary Sanchez having a below-average 99 wRC+. Of the four league leading teams with five Silver Slugger finalists, the Astros are the most legit.
Yulieski Gurriel (1B)
Yuli Gurriel, like many others in the Astros clubhouse, is coming off a very tough 2020 campaign. When Gurriel signed an extension in the 2020 playoffs, many Astros fans were confused at why the Astros would be interested in a 36-year old slashing .232/.274/.384. One fan wrote “I am so done with Gurriel. Why would you extend his contract? He doesn’t deserve it after how bad he has sucked.”
Gurriel entered 2021 with a vengeance. He not only led the American League in batting average but he was patient in his approach and took his walks. He ended the year with a career-high 9.8% walk rate en route to being the oldest player to win his first batting title since Barry Bonds did in 2002.
While Gurriel posted a nice 134 wRC+ in 2021, these nominations are in all likelihood just a formality for the clear favorite Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Guerrero Jr posted an AL-leading 166 wRC+. Guerrero Jr’s season was just historic and had it not been for the other historic season over in Anaheim, he’d be the clear favorite for AL MVP as well.
Jose Altuve (2B)
Like Gurriel, Jose Altuve is coming off a low year and competing with another Blue Jay who’s having a career year. The former Silver Slugger and many-time batting champion seems to no longer value batting average. After batting over .300 for five straight years, Altuve hasn’t hit above the .300 threshold for years. He hit 31 homeruns in two of those years and was struggling in a shortened season for the other. Altuve isn’t the hitter he once was but he proves to still be a very dangerous bat. He doesn’t flip his bat but he’ll flip you off with it.
Before his allegations came to light, Trevor Bauer had been one of the more vocal players in regards to the sign stealing scandal and even before it. In 2019, he called out Gerrit Cole, who played on the same college team as Bauer, for using foreign substances. When no one listened, he cried harder. A year later, many believe that Bauer started incorporating foreign substances into his game as well and in many attempts to get the Astros’ attention about sign stealing with customized cleats and T-shirts, he never got a call back. In the highly anticipated matchup against his former nemesis and potential criminal, Altuve sent the fourth fastball he saw 401 feet to the Minute Maid train tracks and set the tone for future talkers.
Before the All-Star break, certain members of the Yankees were having fun with Altuve’s refusal to take off his jersey in 2019. Aaron Judge hit a homerun off Zack Greinke and as he rounded third base he did the same motion that Altuve did two years back. The public went crazy and as the Yankees were closing in on a sweep, Altuve made a series loss feel as good as it could. He scooped a pitch from Chad Green over the Crawford Boxes for a walkoff three-run homerun. He tore off his jersey revealing a tattoo and confirming why he didn’t want to rip off his jersey in 2019.
As cool as it would be for Altuve to flip you off with a silver bat, Marcus Semien has a slight edge over Altuve in most offensive categories. His wRC+ is one point higher than Altuve’s and his wOBA is 11 points higher. Not to mention there’s a very underrated second baseman in Tampa Bay who put up a significantly better wRC+ than both Semien and Altuve but Brandon Lowe wasn’t nominated for the Silver Slugger Award.
Carlos Correa (SS)
“My swing feels sexy… I’ve never felt better in the last week of Spring Training in my career,” said an excited Carlos Correa as Spring Training was winding down this year.
He may have said it to push General Manager James Click to meet his Spring Training deadline for a contract extension but whether or not that’s the case, he wasn’t lying.
In his contract year, Correa decided to have a career year. The 2015 AL Rookie of the Year leads all AL shortstops in wRC+ has the second-highest xwOBA amongst all shortstops trailing only Fernando Tatis Jr who is in the National League. In other (non park-adjusted) metrics Correa slightly trails Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts but according to StatCast, Fenway Park is the second-most hitter friendly ballpark in the league. Correa should win the Silver Slugger this year but it won’t matter because he’s getting paid this offseason.
Correa also likes to flip you off with his bat but he’ll do the physical flipping as well. Joe Kelly made headlines last year for throwing near the heads of the Astros. Correa returned the favor this year by embarrassing Kelly in his home stadium when he sent Kelly’s changeup all the way to Anaheim. Oh and he also homered off Bauer in the early year matchup. That homerun put Bauer in line for the loss in that game.
Kyle Tucker (OF)
If nobody got me…
Kyle Tucker. 147 wRC+. Need I really say more?
I will anyway. Tucker made his splash this year after a slow start to his career. The prospect that former General Manager Jeff Luhnow refused to send away as he acquired Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke is not showing the world why Luhnow valued him so highly. Tucker is seventh in wRC+ and the only competitor at his position is Judge who beats him by one wRC+ point. Judge also beats Tucker in OBP and wOBA while Tucker has the higher Slugging but even so, the Silver Slugger Award is presented to three outfielders from each league instead of one right fielder, one center fielder and one left fielder. The league has overlooked Tucker for most of this year as he’s surrounded by great talent and thus is typically placed seventh in the Astros lineup but the league would be making a huge mistake if Tucker doesn’t win a Silver Slugger this year.
Yordan Alvarez (DH)
Win “Rookie of the Year.” Win “ALCS MVP.” Get nominated for a Silver Slugger that you probably won't win because some dude in Anaheim decided to be historic. Yordan Alvarez wasted no time making an impact on the league. Alvarez was assumed to be some big power hitting DH this year but he surprised more by hitting for average to start the year. He ended the season with a very impressive 138 wRC+ and will be a threat to come thanks to the Dodgers.
That said, while a 138 wRC+ is impressive, a 152 wRC+ is crazier and Shohei Ohtani did that. In all likelihood, Ohtani wins the Silver Slugger for DH but that shouldn’t discredit the performance that Alvarez has put up this season and right now in the postseason. The Dodgers sent Alvarez away in 2016 and with every hit Alvarez gets, with every award he receives, with every accomplishment he achieves as an Astro, Alvarez reminds the Dodgers that they’ll always be inferior to Houston.
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