Tatis Jr. Eyes Silver Slugger History With Two Nominations

Fernando Tatis Jr. was named a finalist for the National League Silver Slugger Award in two categories on Thursday.

The San Diego Padres outfielder and second baseman is up for the award in both the outfield and utility positions.

Winners are selected by MLB managers and coaches, who cannot vote for their own players.

The announcement came from MLB on Nov. 5, 2026.

Tatis is the only Padres player to be named a finalist this year.

The dual nomination stems from an unusual decision the Padres made in early April.

San Diego announced that Tatis would begin playing more games at second base.

He had spent the first three years of his MLB career at shortstop before moving to the outfield in 2023.

Since that move, he had earned two All-Star appearances and two Gold Glove Awards in right field.

The shift back to the infield raised eyebrows around baseball.

Tatis appeared in 53 games at second base, starting 50 of them.

He posted a .979 fielding percentage there, slightly below the MLB average of .987.

He recorded 115 assists and 71 putouts and helped turn 19 double plays.

The Silver Slugger Award, however, is based on offensive production, not defense.

It has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best hitter at each position in both leagues.

Tatis previously won the award in 2020 and 2021 when he played shortstop.

His 2026 season started slowly.

Through May 29, he was hitting .268 with a .652 OPS, six doubles, 17 RBIs and 51 strikeouts in 205 at-bats.

His strikeout rate stood at 24.9% at that point.

He had not hit a single home run.

The next day, May 30, he hit his first homer of the season.

From that point on, Tatis went on a tear over the final four months.

He finished the season with a .289 batting average, just seven hits shy of .300.

His final OPS was .828.

He totaled 25 doubles, 25 home runs and 83 RBIs.

His strikeout rate dropped to 20.8%.

That performance earned him a spot on the Bleacher Report All-MLB Team.

In the outfield category, three winners will be selected from a field of seven finalists.

The other outfield finalists are Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Jackson Chourio of the Milwaukee Brewers, Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs, Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs, Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals and James Wood of the Washington Nationals.

In the utility category, Tatis is competing against one other finalist.

The winner in each category will be announced on Nov. 17.

Corbin Carroll, one of the outfield finalists, won the Silver Slugger last year as one of three NL outfielders.

Carroll finished 2026 with a .239 batting average, 22 home runs and 17 triples.

His 17 triples matched his career high and led all major leaguers for the third straight season.

Among the seven outfield finalists, Carroll ranked last in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage and sixth in OPS.

Gabriel Moreno, another Diamondback, was named a finalist at catcher.