San Francisco Giants: Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner win NL Silver Slugger Awards
Early Thursday evening, Major League Baseball announced that three San Francisco Giants players were honored with 2015 Silver Slugger awards. Given to the best overall hitter at each position, Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, and Madison Bumgarner all took home the hardware this year.
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Just two days after winning the Gold Glove award, Crawford is proving to be the best overall shortstop in the game with his first career Silver Slugger award. More so known for his glovework rather than his bat, BCraw became one of the Giants most productive hitters this year.
In his 143 games this season, Crawford led National League shortstops with his 21 home runs and 3.38 offensive WAR, and he also led all qualifying MLB shortstops with his 84 RBIs and .462 slugging percentage.
As for the catcher, Posey is no stranger to these honors as this is his third career Silver Slugger Award. Posey is now fifth all-time in total Silver Slugger awards among catchers.
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The former NL MVP led MLB catchers in almost every category, including batting average (.318), on-base-percentage (.379), slugging percentage (.470), RBIs (95), hits (177), and offensive WAR (4.69).
Another familiar player with the Silver Slugger award is Madison Bumgarner who won his second consecutive. With a little bit of truth to it, Bumgarner was almost just as impressive with the bat this year as he was on the mound. Just as Posey led catchers in every category, Bumgarner did so and more among pitchers.
In his 77 at-bats, Cowboy Bum led all MLB pitchers in home runs (5), RBIs (9), slugging percentage (.468), and offensive WAR (0.7). In fact, among Giants players, Bumgarner was fifth in batting average (.247), tied for ninth in home runs, and fifth in slugging percentage.
For a team that was ached by injuries all year long, this trio of All Stars held the offense on their backs all year long. While none were finalists for the NL MVP award, perhaps if the Giants were playoff contenders, Posey would have been a top candidate for the award.
San Francisco is reported to be searching for some free agent offensive pop to add to their already solid offense that led the National League in team batting average this season (.267). If the Giants can stay healthy and add a couple dominant starting pitchers, these three Silver Sluggers are hungry to win their fourth championship in six years.
Here is the complete list of the 2015 Silver Slugger award winners:
National League:
C Buster Posey (San Francisco Giants)
1B Paul Goldschmidt (Arizona Diamondbacks)
2B Dee Gordon (Miami Marlins)
3B Nolan Arenado (Colorado Rockies)
SS Brandon Crawford (San Francisco Giants)
OF Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh Pirates)
OF Carlos Gonzalez (Colorado Rockies)
OF Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals)
P Madison Bumgarner (San Francisco Giants)
American League:
C Brian McCann (New York Yankees)
1B Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers)
2B Jose Altuve (Houston Astros)
3B Josh Donaldson (Toronto Blue Jays)
SS Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox)
OF Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
OF Nelson Cruz (Seattle Mariners)
OF J.D. Martinez (Detroit Tigers)
DH Kendrys Morales (Kansas City Royals)
Next: Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants potentially considering trade