The 2023 Philadelphia Phillies team is known to have a potent offence, led by the likes of Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos, J.T. Realmuto and others. They have been so impressive that apparently they have now been named finalists for the inaugural Silver Slugger Team Award, presented by Louisville Slugger. This new award will recognize the season’s best offensive team in Major League Baseball from both the American League and National League.
The Phillies are among the four finalists from the NL, which also includes the NL East division-leading Atlanta Braves, the NL West division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Diego Padres. The finalists for the AL include the Tampa Bay Rays, and the AL West trio of the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners.
Unlike the individual Silver Slugger Awards, the Silver Slugger Team Award is determined by a combination of analytics/offensive statistics and voting by the fans. Fan voting opened up on September 25 on MLB.com and will run until the final day of the regular season at 11:59 pm ET on October 1. As part of the voting process, one lucky fan will be drawn to present the first-ever Silver Slugger Team Award to the winning team in person at an MLB game in early 2024.
The Phillies are currently 4th in the NL in runs scored (768) and RBI (744), and 3rd in hits (1372), home runs (212), and OPS (.768). They will definitely be in tough against their divisional rivals, as the Braves currently rank 1st in the league in practically most of the major offensive categories and are thus considered the NL favorites for the award.
Nevertheless, anything is possible with the fan voting process. So for all the Phillies’ fans out there, remember to come out (or literally, go online right now) and vote to support your favorite team!