AL Silver Slugger Predictions-

Catcher- Alex Avila:  led all catchers with 82 runs batted in, slugging and on base percentage, OPS and a .295 batting average. The next highest batting average for a catcher was .262.

First Base- Miguel Cabrera:   1st in almost every major offensive category for first baseman with the exception of hits, where he is 2nd,and home runs and RBIs, where he is 3rd. And oh yeah, he led the entire league in batting average with a torrid .344 clip.

Second Base- Robinson Cano:  home run derby champ was 1st in runs batted in, slugging and OPS. Also top 2 in batting average and home runs, as well as 3rd in OBP.

Shortstop- Jhonny Peralta:  this one was a tight call, Asdrubal Cabrera and JJ Hardy both had fine offensive seasons, but Peralta’s was a tad bit better. He was first in batting average and OPS as well as being top four in OBP, homers, RBI and slugging percentage.

Third Base- Adrian Beltre:  in only 124 games he led a group of third baseman that includes Evan Longoria and Mark Reynolds in RBI, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS and hits. Being second in dingers and runs doesn’t hurt either.

Left Field- Josh Hamilton:  positional leader in slugging and on base percentage as well as OBP and second in homers, RBIs and batting average.

Center Field- Jacoby Ellsbury: another tight call, Curtis Granderson had better power numbers, but Ellsbury was much better hitting for average as he had a .321 line with the next best centrally located outfielder being .280. Also led position in OBP and OPS, second to Granderson in most other offensive categories.

Right Field- Jose Bautista:  Joey Bats ripped up pitchers with the lumber, with more home runs, runs batted in and walks than any other player in right field. He also had a .608 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.056 with the next closest being .509 and .879 respectively.

Designated Hitter- Victor Martinez:  this is a tricky one because not a lot of teams have a defined DH, some rotate players while others use one sometimes at DH and sometimes at another position(s) (see Micheal Young, Victor Martinez and Mike Napoli). V-Mart only had 12 home runs, but led the league in batting average with runners in scoring position, which becomes the most important stat in the world when the guy in the box ahead of you is Mr. Intentional Walk himself, Miguel Cabrera.

 

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