Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez win Silver Slugger Awards
It’s just the third time the Royals have had two players win a Silver Slugger Award in the same season.
The awards keep piling up for Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Pérez. After Bobby won a Gold Glove at shortstop for his defensive prowess, he has been awarded a Silver Slugger Award for offensive excellence at the shortstop position. And Salvador Pérez takes home the Silver Slugger Award for the fifth time in his career after previously winning in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2021.
Witt became the first Royals hitter to win a batting title since George Brett in 1990, leading the big leagues with a .332 clip. He led the American League in hits (211), was second in runs scored (125), doubles (45), triples (11), and total bases (374), ninth in home runs (32), tied for fourth in RBI (109), and eighth in stolen bases (31), and he was second in the league in WAR according to both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. He won over 2023 winner Corey Seager of the Rangers and Gunnar Henders of the Orioles. Witt was a finalist last year, but this year he takes the award, becoming the first Royals shortstop ever to win. He is also a finalist for American League MVP, the winner of which will be announced on November 21.
Salvador Pérez was third among American League catchers with 27 home runs, and led them with 104 RB1 and a .456 slugging percentage. He won the award over Houston’s Yainer Diaz, Oakland’s Shea Langeliers, and Seattle’s Cal Raleigh. The only catchers with more Silver Slugger Awards than Salvy’s five are Mike Piazza (10), Ivan Rodriguez (7), Lance Parrish and Brian McCann (6).
You can see a complete list of 2024 Silver Slugger Award winners here. Seven players are first-time winners.
This is just the third time the Royals have had two players win a Silver Slugger Award in the same season.
Past Royals Silver Slugger Award winners:
1980: George Brett and Willie Wilson
1982: Hal McRae and Willie Wilson
1985: George Brett
1986: Frank White
1988: George Brett
1995: Gary Gaetti
1998: Dean Palmer
2012: Billy Butler
2015: Kendrys Morales
2016: Salvador Pérez
2017: Eric Hosmer
2018: Salvador Pérez
2020: Salvador Pérez
2021: Salvador Pérez
2024: Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Pérez