Three Baltimore Orioles Finalists for Coveted Slugging Award

Three of the Baltimore Orioles best players are finalists for the most coveted hitting award in the MLB.

When a team finishes with the best record in the American League, there's a good chance that some players will bring home awards at the end of the season.

That seems to be the case with the Baltimore Orioles, who had an outstanding year and whose players constantly were in the headlines.

Three of their best hitters have been named finalists for the Silver Slugger award that will be voted on by managers and coaches who can't select players on their own teams.

This award has been handed out since 1980 and recognizes the best hitters at each position.

Adley Rutschman, Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson are the Orioles' finalists this season.

Henderson is the massive favorite to take home the American League Rookie of the Year award after having a slash line of .255/.325/.489 with 28 home runs and 82 RBI.

He was nominated in the utility role for this award since he played across multiple positions. He is a finalist alongside Brandon Drury, Isaac Paredes and Whit Merrifield.

Henderson has a good chance to become a Silver Slugger in his first MLB season, but could be edged out by Paredes who had more home runs (31) and RBI (98).

Rutschman will look to win his first set of hardware since finishing as a runner up in 2022's AL Rookie of the Year voting.

He's a finalist alongside catchers Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners and Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals.

Baltimore's superstar had the most hits out of any AL catcher with 163. This group of three are the only catchers who qualified for MLB's slash line considerations based on plate appearances.

Rutschman had the highest batting average (.277) and on-base percentage (.374), while finishing second to Raleigh in slugging percentage (.435).

Santander is the longshot out of this Orioles group to bring home the Silver Slugger award.

The outfielder is a finalist with Randy Orozarena, Adolis Garcia, Aaron Judge, Luis Robert Jr., Julio Rodriguez and Kyle Tucker.

He had one of his best seasons at the plate, posting a slash line of .257/.325/.472 with 28 home runs and a career high 95 RBI.

Three outfielders will take home the award based on votes, but Santander is overshadowed by the majority of this list based on statistics.

Even if none of the Baltimore players win, having three players become finalists for the coveted Silver Slugger award highlights how bright the future is for this franchise.