Angels News: Mike Trout Wins Silver Slugger Award, Taylor Ward Finishes as Runner-Up
Angels superstar Mike Trout has won his ninth career Silver Slugger Award.
Trout, coming off a 2021 season in which he played in just 36 games, found his groove again in 2022. He slashed .283/.369/.630 with 40 home runs and 80 RBIs. He had an impressive OPS of .999, and became just the sixth player in MLB history to hit 40 or more home runs in 120 or fewer games in a season.
Taylor Ward was also a finalist for the Silver Slugger Award in the outfield. Ward had a breakout year in 2022 with the Halos, hitting .281 with 23 home runs and 65 RBIs. Ward reached base safely in 24 of the team's final 28 games, and hit .369 in that time span. He's up for arbitration this offseason, qualifying for the Super-2 classification.
As for Trout, his ninth Silver Slugger Award gives him the third-most all time, tied with Barry Larkin and Manny Ramirez, and only trailing Mike Piazza and Alex Rodriguez who had 10, and Barry Bonds who had 12.
Trout, who's just 31-years-old, still has another eight more years on his contract. If he continues to play at this level, he'll have a real shot at surpassing Bonds for first on the all-time Silver Slugger Award list.
