Bogaerts, Betts, Ortiz Win AL Silver Slugger Awards
BOSTON (CBS) -- The awards keep rolling in for the 2016 Boston Red Sox.
A trio of Red Sox took home American League Silver Slugger Awards on Thursday night, with DH David Ortiz, shortstop Xander Bogaerts and outfielder Mookie Betts all earning the honors. The Red Sox are the only team in either league with as many as three Silver Slugger honorees in 2016.
This is the seventh Silver Slugger honor for Ortiz (2004-07, 2011, 2013, 2016), breaking a tie with Wade Boggs and Manny Ramirez (six apiece) for the most in Red Sox history. He holds the record for most Silver Slugger Awards by a designated hitter, tied for seventh-most for any position in the award's history.
Ortiz put together a farewell season for the ages in 2016, leading the majors in doubles (48), slugging percentage (.620), and OPS (1.021), each for the first time in his career. His 48 doubles, 38 home runs, 87 extra-base hits, and 127 RBIs were each the highest single-season totals ever by a player 40 years old or older, as well as the highest by a player in his final season.
Bogaerts took home a Silver Slugger for the second straight season after leading American League shortstops with 192 hits and 115 runs, while ranking second among that group with 34 doubles and 89 RBIs. In addition to setting career highs in runs and RBIs, Bogaerts also set personal bests with 157 games, 21 home runs, and 13 stolen bases, finishing with a .294 batting average.
Bogaerts is the first player in Red Sox history with multiple Silver Slugger Awards at shortstop.
With his first Silver Slugger Award, Betts becomes the seventh Red Sox player ever to earn both a Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award in the same season, joining Dwight Evans (1981), Ellis Burks (1990), Jason Varitek (2005), Dustin Pedroia (2008), Jacoby Ellsbury (2011), and Adrian Gonzalez (2011). Betts was the only outfielder in either league to record as many as 200 hits this season, and led American League outfielders in batting average (.318), RBIs (113), doubles (tied, 42), extra-base hits (78), and total bases (359).
This is the third time the Red Sox have featured three Silver Slugger winners in a single season, having also done so in 2005 (David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek) and in 2011 (Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz). Red Sox players have won 41 Silver Sluggers in the award's 37 years of existence.
Earlier this week, Betts won his first career Gold Glove award while Rick Porcello won a Player's Choice Award for AL Pitcher of the Year. Betts is also a finalist for the AL MVP, while Porcello is a finalist for the AL's Cy Young Award.
