Despite being eliminated in the ALDS against the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees had one of the more prolific offenses in MLB this season.
On Thursday, the finalists were announced for the American League Silver Slugger awards at the various positions. The illustrious positional award denotes how good you are as purely a hitter. The Yankees have four nominations, and you can probably guess the obvious ones, but others came as a bit of a surprise.
Yankees’ four Silver Slugger nominees revealed
The four New York Yankees who were named as finalists for the Silver Slugger at their respective positions are Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr, and Ben Rice.
Let’s start with who is essentially a lock for the award: Aaron Judge. Judge is a four-time Silver Slugger, and he’ll likely win it for a fifth time this season. In 152 games, Judge hit 53 home runs, drove in 114 runs, walked 124 times, and led MLB in OPS (1.144) by a wide margin. He is also the frontrunner to win his third MVP award.
Cody Bellinger also has a stellar campaign in his first season in pinstripes. Bellinger is a two-time Silver Slugger award winner. He won the illustrious award in 2019 (MVP season) and in 2023 with the Chicago Cubs. He smashed 29 home runs and drove in 98 runs en route to an OPS+ of 125.
Ben Rice is the surprise selection of this group. Rice had a breakout 2025 campaign, where he hit 26 home runs in 138 games, with an OPS of .836. He’s in the “utility” category with Maikel Garcia and Zach McKinstry, and it’s fair to assume he could be the frontrunner among that group to take home the SS.
Lastly, Jazz Chisholm Jr. also put together a really good season with the lumber in his hands. Jazz has never won a Silver Slugger, but he did hit a career-high 31 home runs this season. He added 31 stolen bases and 80 RBIs. Jazz is competing against Jorge Polanco and Brandon Lowe, so it’s also safe to assume he could be taking home his first SS award.
All-in-all, the New York Yankees may end up with three Silver Slugger winners this season. The winners are announced in early November.
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