Twins infielder Arraez adds Silver Slugger Award to 2022 accolades

Minnesota Twins infielder and reigning American League batting champ Luis Arraez has won his first career Silver Slugger Award at the newly added utility spot. He’s the first Twins player to win the award since Nelson Cruz in 2020.

In 2022, Arraez slashed .316/.375/.420 with a .795 OPS. He led the Twins with 173 hits, including 31 doubles, eight home runs, one triple and 49 RBI. He also led the AL in batting average with runners in scoring position (.366), batting average with two strikes (.281) and had the lowest whiff percentage in MLB, swinging and missing at just 7.1% of pitches.

The 25-year-old Venezuelan All-Star lined up at first base, second base, third base and designated hitter in 144 games this season but did not spend a majority of his appearances at any one position. Major League Baseball added a Silver Slugger Award for utility players this year to recognize versatile fielders such as Arraez.

Teammate Carlos Correa was named as a Silver Slugger finalist at shortstop but lost out to Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox.