Kansas City Royals Stars Salvador Perez, Bobby Witt Jr. Up For Silver Slugger Awards

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. have been named finalists for a Silver Slugger Award, the league announced Thursday morning.

Perez, who made his eighth All-Star Game this past summer, is now up for his fifth Silver Slugger. In 140 games, Perez hit .255 with 137 hits, 23 home runs, 21 doubles, 80 RBI and a .714 OPS.

The other catchers joining Perez on the list of finalists are the Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh and the Baltimore Orioles' Adley Rutschman. The 33-year-old Perez ranks dead last among the three in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, walks and oWAR.

Witt, meanwhile, broke out as a second-year player in 2023, improving on his stats across the board. The 23-year-old racked up 177 hits, 30 home runs, 28 doubles, 11 triples, 49 stolen bases and 96 RBI on top of his .276 batting average and .813 OPS.

Mariners veteran JP Crawford and Texas Rangers superstar Corey Seager are the shortstops Witt is competing with for the AL Silver Slugger Award. Witt ranks third in OPS and oWAR between the three, but he leads the group in hits, RBI and stolen bases.

The Silver Slugger Award winners will be announced on MLB Network at 6 p.m. ET on Nov. 9.

The full list of finalists is listed below.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Catcher

Salvador Perez, KC
Cal Raleigh, SEA
Adley Rutschman, BAL

First Base

Triston Casas, BOS
Yandy Diaz, TB
Nathaniel Lowe, TEX
Spencer Torkelson, DET

Second Base

Brandon Drury, LAA
Marcus Semien, TEX
Gleyber Torres, NYY

Shortstop

JP Crawford, SEA
Corey Seager, TEX
Bobby Witt Jr., KC

Third Base

Alex Bregman, HOU
Rafael Devers, BOS
Isaac Paredes, TB
José Ramírez, CLE

Outfield

Randy Arozarena, TB
Adolis García, TEX
Aaron Judge, NYY
Luis Robert Jr. CHW
Julio Rodríguez, SEA
Anthony Santander, BAL
Kyle Tucker, HOU

Designated Hitter

Yordan Alvarez, HOU
Shohei Ohtani, LAA

Utility

Brandon Drury, LAA
Gunnar Henderson, BAL
Whit Merrifield, TOR
Isaac Paredes, TB

Offensive Team

Houston Astros
Seattle Mariners
Tampa Bay Rays
Texas Rangers