Henderson, Rutschman win Silver Slugger awards

Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson captured American League  Silver Slugger awards. The awards were announced on MLB Network on Thursday night.

Rutschman won the catcher’s award, beating out Kansas City’s Salvador Perez and Seattle’s Cal Raleigh. Henderson won the utility category over Los Angeles’ Brandon Drury, Tampa Bay’s Isaac Paredes and Toronto’s Whit Merrifield, who is now a free agent.

Rutschman hit .277 with an .809 OPS with 20 home runs and 80 RBIs. He also had a .374 on-base percentage.

Henderson, who split his time between shortstop and third base, hit .255 with an .814 OPS. He hit 28 homers and drove in 82 runs.

Henderson is expected to win the AL Rookie of the Year award on Monday night. He’s already won The Sporting News and Players Choice awards for best American League rookie.

Anthony Santander, who hit .257 with a .797 OPS with 28 home runs and 95 RBIs, was a finalist for the outfielders’ award for the second straight year but didn’t win it. Rutschman was also a finalist last year.

Cedric Mullins, who became the first Oriole to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season, was the last Silver Slugger winner in 2021.

The last time the Orioles had multiple Silver Slugger winners were first baseman Chris Davis, shortstop J.J. Hardy and outfielder Adam Jones in 2013.

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