Boston Red Sox' J.D. Martinez is first player ever to win two Silver Sluggers in same year; Mookie Betts also wins
J.D. first to win 2 Silver Sluggers in same year
Mookie Betts winning one and J.D. Martinez becoming the first player ever to win two of them in the same year.
Betts and Martinez both won as outfielders, with Martinez also winning the designated hitter category. No player had ever won two Silver Sluggers in the same season in the award's 39-year history.
J.D. first to win 2 Silver Sluggers in same year
Martinez started 93 games at DH and had 350 at-bats. He had 57 starts in the outfield (32 in left and 25 in right) while accumulating 219 at-bats.
Winning at both positions was made possible by the way Martinez seemed to rake whenever he got to play defense. In those 57 outfield starts, Martinez slashed .384/.450/.680 with 16 homers and 51 RBIs. As a DH, his line was .297/.373/.597 with 27 homers and 79 RBIs.