KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and catcher Salvador Perez were named finalists for the Silver Slugger Award Monday by Louisville Slugger.
Witt, who was also a finalist in 2023, would be the first Royals shortstop to win the award if he is selected, per the team.
He led the league in 2024 with a .332 batting average and 211 hits. He also hit 32 home runs and became the first shortstop in MLB history to record consecutive 30/30 seasons.
In addition to Witt, Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and Texas’ Corey Seager are nominated for the honor.
Witt won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for American League shortstop on Sunday.
Bobby Baseball is bringing home some gold!
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) November 4, 2024
Congratulations to Bobby Witt Jr. on his first Gold Glove Award! pic.twitter.com/SJXNUty0l6
Perez has been a finalist for the award in 10 of his last 11 seasons. The only year he was not named a finalist was in 2019 when he missed the entire season due to injury, according to the Royals.
At 34 years old, Perez is the oldest American League catcher up for the award, Lanier Diaz (Houston), Shea Langeliers (Oakland) and Cal Raleigh (Seattle) are all in their 20s.
Nevertheless, Perez ranked first in his position in 2024 in RBI (104), on-base percentage (.330), slugging percentage (.456), OPS (.786) and extra-base hits (55), per the team.
He was second in batting average and hits, too.
The Captain and Bobby Baseball are 2024 Silver Slugger finalists! pic.twitter.com/cNlzkV3fSR
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) November 4, 2024
All-time, 10 Royals players have won 16 Silver Slugger awards.
Perez was the most-recent winner in 2021. He also received the honor in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
His four wins are a club record; George Brett received three.
Finalists for the award are elected by MLB managers and coaches.
The winners will be announced at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 on the MLB Network.
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