Royals finalists: Perez up for fifth Silver Slugger, Witt for players’ choice AL rookie
Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr. — the Kansas City Royals’ top two individual performers from this season and franchise cornerstones — have both been selected as finalists for MLB honors.
Perez, who led the Royals in home runs and ranked second on the club in RBIs despite playing in just 114 games, is a finalist for the American League Silver Slugger Award as the top offensive performer at the catcher position.
Witt, who debuted on Opening Day and played in 150 games during his rookie season, has been voted a finalist for the Players Choice Award for AL Outstanding Rookie by his major-league brethren.
Perez, a franchise-record four-time Silver Slugger Award winner, joined five other AL catchers as finalists for the honor this season. He joined the Toronto Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk, Houston Astros’ Martín Maldonado, Oakland Athletics’ Sean Murphy, Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh and Baltimore Orioles’ Adley Rutschman.
Despite playing part of the season through a thumb injury and then having mid-season surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb, Perez posted a team-high 23 home runs with a slash line of .254/.292/.465 to go with 76 RBIs.
Perez started 74 games at catcher (77 games played) and 40 as the designated hitter. Among AL catchers (minimum 75 games), he ranked third in RBIs, tied for fourth in home runs, fifth in extra-base hits (31) and fifth in OPS (.757). He also led AL catchers in at-bats per RBI (5.43) and ranked second in at-bats per home run (19.2).
Witt, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, joined Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez and the Orioles’ Rutschman as finalists for the Players Choice honor as the AL’s top rookie. Players Choice Awards are determined entirely via balloting of MLB players.
Rodriguez, Rutschman and Witt are also viewed as top candidates for the AL Rookie of the Year Award selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Rodriguez, who was an AL All-Star, is considered the favorite for Rookie of the Year.
Rutschman, the No. 1 pick in Witt’s draft class in 2019, had a fine big-league season even though he began the season in the minors and played in just 113 games in the majors.
Witt started 148 of the 150 games during his first year in the big leagues. He slashed .254/.294/.428 with 20 home runs and team-highs of 80 RBIs and 30 stolen bases.
Witt joined Barry Bonds (1987), Álex Rodríguez (1998), Mike Trout (2012, 2013) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2019) as the only players 22 or younger with 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season.
Witt also led all rookies in the majors in extra-base hits (57), RBIs (80) and stolen bases (30). He also ranked among the rookie leaders in doubles (31, second), triples (six, second), total bases (253, second), hits (150, second), runs scored (82, third) and home runs (20, third).
The Players Choice Award winners will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 3.
Silver Slugger Award winners will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 10.
This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 11:50 AM.
