Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez wins second straight Silver Slugger
Nov 9, 2023, 3:47 PM | Updated: 3:56 pm
Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners hits a double against the Dodgers on Sept. 16, 2023. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
(Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
It only took Seattle Mariners phenom Julio Rodríguez two seasons in the big leagues to become a multi-time Silver Slugger award winner.
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The 22-year-old Rodríguez was the lone Mariners player to win a 2023 Silver Slugger when the annual awards were announced Thursday afternoon. Like he did in 2022 as a rookie, Rodríguez takes the honors as one of the American League’s three winners in the outfield.
Rodríguez becomes the seventh Mariners player to win at least two Silver Sluggers, joining Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro Suzuki, Bret Boone and Nelson Cruz. He is the first Mariners player to win the award in each of his first two MLB seasons, and is just the fifth player to do in MLB history, with the others being Benito Santiago, Mike Piazza, Mike Trout and Corey Seager.
Among AL outfielders this season, Rodríguez has the most hits (180) and total bases (317), second-most runs scored (102), stolen bases (37) and extra-base hits (71, tie), third-most RBIs (103) and fourth-most home runs (32).
The Silver Sluggers are given out annually by MLB and Louisville Slugger to award the best offensive players at each position in each of the American League and National League.
Seattle had two other Silver Slugger finalists: catcher Cal Raleigh and shortstop J.P. Crawford.
In 155 games this season, Rodríguez had a slash line of .275/.333/.485 for an .818 OPS. He won AL Player of the Month for August after an historic stretch where he set an MLB record with 17 hits in four games and tied a record with four consecutive games with at least four hits.
In 2023, Rodríguez became the second player in Mariners history to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in a single season, joining Alex Rodriguez. He also became the first player in MLB history with 50 doubles, 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases though his first two career seasons, finishing with 62 doubles, 60 home runs and 62 stolen bases since 2022.
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