List of Silver Slugger Award winners at second base


The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters consider several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, in addition to "coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value". Managers and coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. The Silver Slugger was first awarded in 1980 and is given by Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger bats. The award is a bat-shaped trophy, 3 feet tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with sterling silver.
Among second basemen, Ryne Sandberg, who played 15 seasons with the Chicago Cubs in his 16-year career, owns the most Silver Sluggers with seven wins, including five consecutive from 1988 to 1992. Three other National League players have won the award four times. Jeff Kent won three consecutive awards with the San Francisco Giants, before adding a fourth with the Los Angeles Dodgers; Craig Biggio, who played his entire career with the Houston Astros, won the award four times as a second baseman after winning another as a catcher. Chase Utley followed Kent's last win by capturing four consecutive awards.
In the American League, José Altuve and Robinson Canó have won five Silver Slugger awards. Altuve won five consecutive awards, all with the Astros, while Cano won all five of his Silver Slugger awards as a member of the New York Yankees, including four consecutive wins. Altuve and Cano's five Silver Slugger awards are second-most all-time for a second baseman and first among American League winners, ahead of four second basemen who are all four-time winners in the American League. Roberto Alomar won the award at the same position with three different teams. Julio Franco won four consecutive awards with two different teams, and Lou Whitaker won four awards in five years with the Detroit Tigers.
Altuve holds the record for the highest batting average in a second baseman's Silver Slugger-winning season with the.346 mark he set in 2017. In the National League, Daniel Murphy's.347 batting average in 2016 ranks first. Willie Randolph, who won the inaugural award in the 1980 season, set a record for on-base percentage that has not yet been broken. Chuck Knoblauch is second behind Randolph in the American League with a.424 on-base percentage, a mark that was tied by Jeff Kent in 2000 to set the National League record. That year, Kent also set the record among second basemen for highest slugging percentage and the National League record for runs batted in. Bret Boone is the overall leader in runs batted in and holds the American League record for slugging percentage ; both of these records were established in 2001. Sandberg hit 40 home runs in 1990, the most ever by a second baseman in a winning season, while Alfonso Soriano set the American League mark with 39 in 2002.

Key

American League winners

YearPlayerTeamAVGOBPSLGHRRBIRef
New York Yankees.294.427.407746
California Angels.271.377.4082261
Toronto Blue Jays.310.338.399542
Detroit Tigers.320.380.4571272
Detroit Tigers.289.357.4071272
Detroit Tigers.279.362.4562173
Kansas City Royals.272.322.4652284
Detroit Tigers.265.341.4271659
Cleveland Indians.303.361.4091054
Texas Rangers.316.386.4621392
Texas Rangers.296.383.4021169
Texas Rangers.341.408.4741578
†Toronto Blue Jays.310.405.427876
Cleveland Indians.321.355.48621114
Cleveland Indians.314.333.5251980
Minnesota Twins.333.424.4871163
†Baltimore Orioles.328.411.5272294
Minnesota Twins.291.390.411958
Detroit Tigers.271.332.47827100
†Cleveland Indians.323.422.53324120
†Cleveland Indians.310.378.4751989
Seattle Mariners.331.372.57837141
New York Yankees.300.332.54739102
Seattle Mariners.294.366.53535117
Texas Rangers.280.324.4842891
Texas Rangers.268.309.51236104
New York Yankees.342.365.5251578
Detroit Tigers.341.388.458967
Boston Red Sox.326.376.4931783
Toronto Blue Jays.286.330.49936108
New York Yankees.319.381.53429109
New York Yankees.302.349.53328118
New York Yankees.313.379.5503394
New York Yankees.314.383.51627107
Houston Astros.341.377.453759
Houston Astros.313.353.4591566
Houston Astros.338.396.5312496
Houston Astros.346.410.5472481
Houston Astros.316.386.4511361
New York Yankees.327.375.51826102

National League winners

YearPlayerTeamAVGOBPSLGHRRBIRef
Philadelphia Phillies.292.334.412743
Philadelphia Phillies.287.338.395636
†Cincinnati Reds.292.417.4351673
Pittsburgh Pirates.283.323.399553
*†Chicago Cubs.314.367.5201984
*†Chicago Cubs.305.364.5042683
Los Angeles Dodgers.332.390.441656
Philadelphia Phillies.272.335.50228100
*†Chicago Cubs.264.322.4191969
*†Chicago Cubs.290.356.4973076
*†Chicago Cubs.306.354.55940100
*†Chicago Cubs.291.379.48526100
*†Chicago Cubs.304.371.5102687
San Francisco Giants.312.375.4961965
†Houston Astros.318.411.483656
†Houston Astros.302.406.4832277
Colorado Rockies.324.393.421874
†Houston Astros.309.415.5012281
†Houston Astros.325.403.5032088
New York Mets.304.385.50227108
San Francisco Giants.334.424.59633125
San Francisco Giants.298.369.50722106
San Francisco Giants.313.368.56537108
Montreal Expos.310.397.4701565
San Diego Padres.335.391.4951676
Los Angeles Dodgers.289.377.51229105
Philadelphia Phillies.309.379.52732102
Philadelphia Phillies.332.410.56622103
Philadelphia Phillies.292.380.53533104
Philadelphia Phillies.282.397.5083193
Florida Marlins.287.369.50833105
Cincinnati Reds.300.353.4571882
Arizona Diamondbacks.302.360.5222685
St. Louis Cardinals.318.392.4811178
Pittsburgh Pirates.271.342.4672376
Miami Marlins.333.359.418446
Washington Nationals.347.390.59525104
Washington Nationals.322.384.5432393
Chicago Cubs.290.326.55434111
Atlanta Braves.295.352.5002486