ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals took home some more hardware Thursday.
First baseman Paul Goldschmidt and third baseman Nolan Arenado took home Silver Slugger awards as the top hitters at their position in the National League. It was the fifth win for both Goldschmidt and Arenado.
Goldschmidt led all NL first basemen in slugging percentage and OPS and drove in 115 RBIs and 35 home runs. With his fifth Silver Slugger, Goldschmidt now has the most of any first baseman in baseball history (the award started in 1980). He's the first Cardinals first baseman to win the award since Albert Pujols in 2010.
On the other side of the Cardinals infield, Arenado claimed his award after hitting 30 home runs, driving in 103 runs and leading NL third basemen in slugging percentage. He was the first Cardinals third baseman to win the award since Scott Rolen won the award in 2002. Albert Pujols also won the award at third base in 2001.
Pujols was also nominated at designated hitter this season but lost to Josh Bell of the San Diego Padres. Pujols led all NL DHs in home runs, slugging percentage and OPS but had 245 fewer at-bats and 64 fewer hits than Bell.
Before this year's awards, the last Cardinals player to win a Silver Slugger award was Adam Wainwright in 2017.
Goldschmidt, Arenado and Pujols are all up for more awards this offseason. Goldschmidt and Arenado are both NL MVP finalists, and Pujols is a finalist for the NL Comeback Player of the Year.
