Yandy Diaz wins Silver Slugger award for 2023

Yandy Díaz has been named the recipient of the AL Silver Slugger Award at first base.

Díaz is the first Rays hitter to win a Silver Slugger Award since OF Carl Crawford in 2010, and the fourth player in franchise history to earn the honor, along with 3B Evan Longoria (2009) and 1B Carlos Peña (2007).

The Silver Slugger Award is the top offensive honor in Major League Baseball, with the season’s best players at each position selected in a vote by MLB managers and coaches in their respective leagues.

In 2023, Diaz became the first player in Rays history to win an AL batting title, with a club-record .330 batting average. He earned his first career All-Star selection after being voted an AL starter at first base, joining Longoria (2009-10) as the only Rays infielders to win a fan-elected start. His .410 on-base pct. ranked second in franchise history behind Peña (.411) in 2007, while his .932 OPS was the fourth-best mark, trailing only Peña (1.037, 2007), Fred McGriff (.957, 1999) and Ben Zobrist (.948, 2009).

Yandy Diaz ranks 12th in franchise history in plate appearances with 2,184, making him one of the franchise’s longest tenured Rays at age 32. Among players with at least 1,000 PA for the Rays, he has the highest career wRC+ at 137. For a single season, his 164 wRC+ for 2023 is second to only Peña (167, 2007) in franchise history, minimum 50 games.

Personally, Díaz set career highs in nearly every offensive category, including hits (173), doubles (35), home runs (22), RBI (78), runs scored (95), batting average (.330), slugging pct. (.522) and OPS (.932). He ranked among AL hitters in on-base pct. (2nd), multi-hit games (T2nd, 53), OPS (3rd), average exit velocity (3rd, 93.4 mph), slugging pct. (4th) and hits (5th). He led qualified AL first basemen in average, on-base pct., slugging pct., OPS and hits. His 19 games with at least three hits tied Julio Lugo (2005) for the club record, while his 53 multi-hit games were the most by a Rays player since Crawford (54) in 2009.

All in all, it was a remarkable season for Diaz, who achieved a $24 million contract extension, his first child, his first All-Star appearance, a batting title, and a Silver Slugger all in the calendar year. Diaz has two years and an option remaining on his contract for 2026, which will pay $8 million in 2024, $10m in 2025, and $12m in 2026, if exercised.

Adapted from a team press release.