Luis Arraez caps stellar first Miami Marlins season with a Silver Slugger Award

In his first season with the Miami Marlins, Luis Arraez won his second consecutive batting title and was flirting with a .400 batting average through the All-Star Break.

So it should come as no surprise that Arraez won the National League’s Silver Slugger Award for second base.

Arraez is the 11th player in Marlins history to win a Silver Slugger Award and the first since catcher J.T. Realmuto in 2018.

The other 10: Giancarlo Stanton (2014, 2017), Marcell Ozuna (2017), Christian Yelich (2016), Dee Strange-Gordon (2015), Dan Uggla (2010), Hanley Ramirez (2008, 2009), Miguel Cabrera (2005, 2006), Mike Lowell (2003) and Gary Sheffield (1996).

Arraez, acquired by the Marlins in a trade with the Minnesota Twins for Pablo Lopez and a pair of prospects, finished the season with a .354 batting average. That’s the best for a single season in Marlins history and well ahead of runner-up Ronald Acuna Jr. in the National League.

The focus is on Luis Arraez’s chase for .400. His value to Marlins goes beyond the hits

Couple that with his American League batting title in 2022 while with the Twins, and Arraez is the first player in MLB history to win a batting title in consecutive seasons in different leagues

Two others have won a batting title in both leagues but they weren’t in consecutive years. DJ LeMahieu was a batting champion in the National League in 2016 and the American League in 2020, while Ed Delahanty won the NL title in 1899 and the AL title in 1902.

Arraez is the first player to finish a season with a batting average above .350 in a full season (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season) since Josh Hamilton in 2010 (.359) with the Texas Rangers and the first in the National League since Chipper Jones (.364) with the Atlanta Braves and Albert Pujols (.357) with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2008.

Arraez hit for the first cycle in Marlins history on April 11 against the Philadelphia Phillies and had three five-hit games, seven games with at least four hits and 20 with at least three hits.

The Atlanta Braves’ Ozzie Albies and Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte were the other finalists at second base.

Jorge Soler was also a Silver Slugger Award finalist, but lost out on the award at the designated hitter spot to the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper.