Juan Soto, Aaron Judge among Hank Aaron Award finalists

Eleven of the 20 finalists for the prestigious Hank Aaron Award are Latinos. Yordan Alvarez and Juan Soto highlight the list of six Latino finalists for the American League’s Hank Aaron Award. Mets star Francisco Lindor and Shohei Ohtani are among the biggest names among the National League’s finalists.

Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba are among the Latin American countries represented among the finalists. Boston Red Sox slugger Jarren Duran, who is Mexican American, is also a finalist. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the 2021 Hank Aaron Award winner who was born in Montreal to Dominican parents, is also a finalist in the AL.

Cleveland Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez and Baltimore Orioles All-Star Anthony Santander round out the Latino AL finalists. Reds sensation Elly De La Cruz, Brewers catcher William Contreras, Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte and Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna join Lindor as NL finalists.

Ohtani, Judge likely favorites

Ohtani is the likely favorite to win the NL Hank Aaron Award, which is given for offensive excellence. Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers is also a finalist. The Phillies also have a pair of finalists in Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Padres rookie sensation Jackson Merrill, 21, is the youngest finalist for either league. 

Aaron Judge of the Yankees is likely the favorite to win the AL Hank Aaron Award. Judge, the frontrunner to win the AL MVP, will surely get some competition from Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals.

Judge and Witt are the two favorites in the NL MVP race, after all. Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles and Brent Rooker of the A’s round out the AL finalists.

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Judge led the majors with 58 home runs. Ohtani finished second with 54. Santander finished third with 44 home runs, followed by Soto with 41. Ozuna, Ramirez and Rooker each hit 39 home runs.

Witt led the majors with a .332 batting average. Guerrero finished second with a .323 batting average. Soto had the fourth best slugging percentage in the majors at .569. Alvarez was fifth with a .569 slugging percentage.

Soto’s .989 on-base percentage was the second best in the AL and third best in the majors. Alvarez’s on-base percentage was the fifth best in the majors at .959. He was followed by Guerrero (.940) and Marte (.932).

Ohtani (2023), Judge (2022), Harper (2021) and Freeman (2020) are each trying to win their second Hank Aaron Award.