Chandler Simpson is in rare air, and not because of power. The Rays outfielder was named Thursday as one of nine American League outfield finalists for a Silver Slugger Award, with Louisville Slugger set to announce the winners on Nov. 17.
If Simpson wins, he’d make a very unusual bit of history: he would become just the third non-pitcher to capture a Silver Slugger in a season without hitting a home run. The only two to do it before were Pete Rose in 1981 and Ozzie Smith in 1987.
Simpson has the kind of season that forces a different kind of conversation. His .306 batting average ranked fourth among qualified hitters, trailing only Yordan Alvarez, Gabriel Moreno and Luis Arrarez. He paired that contact-heavy approach with a 7.8% strikeout rate, the second-lowest among qualifiers, and he turned the basepaths into a problem for everyone else with 46 stolen bases, the second-most in baseball.
And yet the homer column stayed empty. Simpson was the only qualified hitter who did not go deep.
That’s what makes this finalist nod stand out. Rose, a 17-time All-Star, won the NL’s best offensive first baseman award in 1981 after batting .325 in 107 games for the Phillies, and he already had 155 career home runs when he did it. Smith, a Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star, hit .303 in 1987, the best batting average of his 19-year career, and had 13 career homers at the time.
Simpson’s case would be even more unusual than either of theirs. He has never homered in the majors, and he is already more than halfway to the Live Ball Era record for the most plate appearances in a big league career without a home run. If he wins, he would become the sixth player to take home a Silver Slugger while still sitting on zero career home runs at the time of the award, and the first non-pitcher to do it.
The other AL outfield finalists are Wilyer Abreu of the Red Sox, Randy Arozarena of the Mariners, Cody Bellinger of the Yankees, Jac Caglianone of the Royals, Chase DeLauter of the Guardians, Riley Greene of the Tigers, Tristan Peters of the White Sox and Mike Trout of the Angels.
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