MLB Hands Out Hardware

Its award season. In a great team game, this is the time of year to honor the best of the best from the 2023 Major League Baseball season. We will get into the major individual awards in a little bit. First things first, here are the winners of the silver slugger and gold glove awards from around the league.

Gold Glove
American League: Catcher: Jonah Heim (Rangers)
1st Base: Nathaniel Lowe (Rangers)
2nd Base: Andrés Giménez (Guardians)
3rd Base: Matt Chapman (Blue Jays)
Shortstop: Anthony Volpe (Yankees)
Left Field: Steven Kwan (Guardians)
Center Field: Kevin Kiermaier (Blue Jays)
Right Field: Adolis García (Rangers)
Pitcher: José Berríos (Blue Jays)
Utility: Mauricio Dubón (Astros)

National League:
Catcher: Gabriel Moreno (Diamondbacks)
1st Base: Christian Walker (Diamondbacks)
2nd Base: Nico Hoerner (Cubs)
3rd Base: Ke'Bryan Hayes (Pirates)
Shortstop: Dansby Swanson (Cubs)
Left Field: Ian Happ (Cubs)
Center Field: Brenton Doyle (Rockies)
Right Field: Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres)
Pitcher: Zack Wheeler (Phillies)
Utility: Ha-Seong Kim (Padres)

Silver Sluggers:
American League:
Catcher: Adley Rutschman (Orioles)
1st Base: Yandy Díaz (Rays)
2nd Base: Marcus Semien (Rangers)
3rd Base: Rafael Devers (Red Sox)
Shortstop: Corey Seager (Rangers)
Outfielders: Luis Robert Jr. (White Sox), Julio Rodríguez (Mariners), Kyle Tucker (Astros)
Designated Hitter: Shohei Ohtani (Angels)
Utility: Gunnar Henderson (Orioles)
Team: Texas Rangers

National League:
Catcher: William Contreras (Brewers)
1st Base: Matt Olson (Braves)
2nd Base: Luis Arraez (Marlins)
3rd Base: Austin Riley (Braves)
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor (Mets)
Outfield: Ronald Acuña Jr. (Braves), Mookie Betts (Dodgers), Juan Soto (Padres)
Designated Hitter: Bryce Harper (Phillies)
Utility: Cody Bellinger (Cubs)
Team: Atlanta Braves

Manager of The Year
AL: Brandon Hyde, Baltimore Orioles
NL: Skip Schumaker, Miami Marlins

Pretty impressive that Hyde was able to beat out Kevin Cash of the Rays and Bruce Bochy of the Rangers to win the award, but there's good reason for that. What Hyde was able to do with this Baltimore club is remarkable. He took a team that lost 115 games last year, and turn them into a 101 win team this year. It was also the O's first division title since 2014. Those 101 wins were the most by Baltimore since 1979 and they lead the league in comeback victories on the season with 48.

As for the NL, Skip beat out Brian Snitker of the Braves and Craig Counsell of the Brewers. Both of those teams, the Brewers and Braves were expected to be in the division races and in the playoffs all season long. Miami came in as surprise team making the playoffs. This was the first time that the Marlins have had a winning season, in a non shortened season, since 2009. This was also the first time that the Marlins had made the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2003. So ending a twenty year playoff drought for a full season had to feel really good in Miami.

Rookie of The Year:
AL: Gunner Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
NL: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks

When you beat out Triston Casas of the Red Sox and Tannor Bibee of Cleveland, you doing something right. That's what Gunner Henderson did. The number one prospect in baseball lived up to the hype and then some for the O's with 28 homers and 66 extra base hits.

What Corbin Caroll managed to do to take ROY in the NL was hit 25 homers and steal 53 bases. It made him the first 20-50 rookie in league history. Oh and he was the first player in history to hit those numbers while also hitting double digits in triples.

Cy Young Award:
AL: Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
NL: Blake Snell, San Diego Padres

In the AL, Cole beat out Sonny Gray of the Twins and Kevin Gussman of the Jays. Both those guys put up solid seasons, but Cole was just better than anybody else. Why? Because Cole lead the AL in ERA, innings pitched and opponents batting average. Oh and over the final month of the season, which spanned five starts for Cole, he allowed just four runs over 35 innings. That was a level of dominance that couldn't be touched.

Same thing, over the second half of the year, allowed Blake Snell to walk away with the award in the NL. He edged out Logan Webb of the Giants and Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks to take home the honor. Sure, Snell walked more than anybody else, finishing the year with 99. but at the same time he was almost impossible to hit this year as well. His 2.25 ERA was the best in baseball. His 12 scoreless starts tied for the most by a qualifying pitcher since divisional play began back in 1969. Oh and he won pitcher of the month twice as well, in both June and September.

MVP
AL: Shohei Otani, Los Angeles Angels
NL: Ronald Acuna Jr, Atlanta Braves.

Both guys walked away with unanimous wins for MVP this year. Nothing against what Semien and Seager did for Texas, but this is Otani we talking about here. He played in 135 games this year and lead the AL with 44 homers. He also had a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts over 132 innings before being shut down on the mound due to a right elbow injury.

Then over in the NL Acuna won beating out Freddy Freeman and Mookie Bets of the Dodgers. It was a year in which Acuna had a 40-70 season with 41 homers and 73 steals, topping the 40-50 season he had last year. He also lead the league with 149 runs, 217 hits a .416 on base percentage and 383 total bases. He was also named NL player of the month three times. That's impressive.