Just One Dodger Wins Silver Slugger Award After Team's Historic Offensive Season

The 2023 Dodgers offense set all sorts of records, and it became the best in the history of the franchise. It kept the team afloat during their early season pitching struggles, and it was a pleasure to watch all year long.

Multiple members of the Dodgers were up for the Silver Slugger award, but only one took home the honor in shocking fashion. Star utilityman Mookie Betts was the lone winner of the award, and he rightfully deserved the honor.

The 2023 season was one of the best in recent memory from a Dodgers player, and Betts is currently a finalist for the National League MVP honors. Of course, he didn’t produce in the playoffs, but we can’t discount the year he had to get to that point.

He hit .307 with 39 home runs and 107 runs batted in throughout the season. It was the best of his career, and Betts reminded everyone about just how special of a player he still is today.

Congratulations Mookie on winning your sixth Silver Slugger Award! pic.twitter.com/19TO1Mj2Xy
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 10, 2023

Some of the other Dodgers who could have won the Silver Slugger were designated hitter J.D. Martinez, catcher Will Smith and first baseman Freddie Freeman. Smith fell short in the quest to win, losing to William Contreras of the Milwaukee Brewers. And Freeman was deserving of the honor, but he lost to Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves, unfortunately.

However, the biggest snub came from Martinez not winning the honor in the National League. He lost to Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies, despite having much better stats throughout the regular season. Harper also played in 13 more games than Martinez as well.

Bryce Harper won the Silver Slugger award over Dodgers DH J.D. Martinez in the National League.

Martinez: .271/.321/.572, 33 HR, 103 RBI, 27 2B, 432 AB
Harper: .293/.401/.499. 21 HR, 72 RBI, 29 2B, 457 AB

What am I missing here? This is a regular season offensive award.
— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) November 9, 2023

Martinez hit .271 with 33 home runs and 103 runs batted in while posting an OPS of .893. Harper batted .293 with 21 home runs and 72 runs batted in while posting an OPS of .900.

For a regular season award, Martinez more than deserved to win over Harper. This is a mistake by baseball, and they stole the chance for Martinez to be honored for his special season.