Christian Walker and Ketel Marte are Silver Slugger Finalists

Walker is among the finalists at first base and Marte is a finalist at second base

© Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Christian Walker and Ketel Marte are finalists for the NL Silver Slugger award at first base and second base respectively. Each year MLB awards one player from each position with this award. Like the Gold Gloves, Utility has been added as a position for 2022. The manager and three coaches from each team vote on the award, and are not allowed to vote for players on their own team. Statistics and overall "general impressions" are the criteria given to the voters to decide on.  

Walker set career highs in homers (36), extra base hits (63) , total bases (278) and RBI (94). He logged impressive ranks among NL first baseman, including second in homers, fifth in OPS, fifth in total bases, and fifth in OPS. Walker, who is also a Gold Glove finalist, is not likely to win the award. Former Diamondback Paul Goldschmidt would seem to be the odds on favorite to win. However it is a testament to Walker's hard work and the quality of the season he had. The below table shows how he stacked up to the other four finalists at first base.

NL First Base Silver Slugger Finalists / Baseball Reference

Marte did not have his best season, but still contributed in 2022 despite battling hamstring injuries most of the year. He led all NL second baseman in doubles with 42 and extra base hits with 56. He finished fifth among NL second baseman in Slugging percentage (.407), OPS (.727) , and OPS+ (106). He also finished 6th in RBI with 52. NL Second Base Silver Slugger Finalists are compared below

Baseball Reference

 The Diamondbacks have had 11 Silver Slugger winners in franchise history, including Goldschmidt four times, and most recently Zack Greinke at pitcher in 2019