In a year in which the Philadelphia Phillies put together 95 wins for only the sixth time in franchise history, it's only right that they are seeing shining silver across the infield.
Three of the Phillies five infield starters are up for nominations for the 2024 Silver Slugger Awards for their respective positions. With great seasons from Alec Bohm, Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto, they earned their way as top three hitters at their positions in the National League.
The team will look for its 25th, 26th and 27th Silver Slugger Awards in team history as Bohm hopes to be the 14th different player to win the award in red pinstripes.
Bryce Harper leads trio of Phillies named Silver Slugger finalists
Bryce rakes in another Silver Slugger nomination 🫡 pic.twitter.com/jHYSDQeVnb
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 4, 2024
Harper is in the hunt for the fourth Silver Slugger Award of his career and the third in Philadelphia. The other finalists include a familiar foe in the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso and World Series hero Los Angeles Dodger Freddie Freeman. Harper, a two-time MVP and perennial All-Star leads the competition in batting average, OPS, and OPS+ by a significant margin while being the catalyst and number one option in his team's lineup.
Realmuto is very familiar with the Silver Slugger Award, much like Harper, as he too has earned three silver bats, two with the Phillies. Although he only played 93 games in 2024, the voters think he made enough of an impact to be in contention.
Congratulations to J.T. on being named a 2024 Silver Slugger finalist! pic.twitter.com/lfbYEzjkUw
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 4, 2024
The former Miami Marlin will face stiffer competition than his first base teammate as Miluwakee Brewers catcher William Contreras had a career year, earning the starting spot for the NL in the All-Star Game while slugging .466 from behind the dish. His other opponent is another World Series champion from the Dodgers in Will Smith. Smith slumped for parts of the summer of 2024 but still finished with 20 homers and 75 RBI.
Realmuto played well in his limited action on the field, batting .266 and an OPS+ above league average at 109. His underlying analytics also put him near or above the 80th percentile in several crucial hitting categories like xBA, xSLG, xwOBA and hard-hit rate.
The final nominee and newcomer to the MLB award realm is Alec Bohm who earned his first professional honor being named as the starting third baseman in the All-Star Game alongside his teammates Harper and shortstop Trea Turner. Bohm hopes to earn his first trophy in the MLB after being the runner up for NL Rookie of the Year in 2020
Bohmer is a Silver Slugger finalist 👏 pic.twitter.com/7p9V6aRxnz
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 4, 2024
In what will be the tightest race of the three, Bohm faces two veterans of the game in the San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado and the San Francisco Giants’ Matt Chapman. They all finished with an OPS within .20 of each other, with stretches of hot play throughout the season.
Bohm had the incredible first half with an OPS close to .900 while the others were more consistent along the journey. While the Wichita State product showed more bat-to-ball and contact skills with a significant drop after his hand injury late in the year, the other two third basemen both slugged significantly better while also crushing 10+ more home runs. Bohm hopes to become the first and only other third baseman to win the award for the Phillies since it's introduction in 1980.