Yordan Alvarez, Junior Caminero among Silver Slugger finalists

American League MVP front-runners Yordan Alvarez and Junior Caminero are among the most notable finalists for the 2026 Silver Slugger Award, joining a star-studded group that includes Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Schwarber, and Bobby Witt Jr., 

The Silver Slugger Award announced its finalists for the 2026 season on Thursday. Some of Major League Baseball’s biggest names have made the cut, with a number of Latino players being included in that group.

The Award was introduced in 1980 and recognizes the best offensive player at each position in both leagues. Finalists and winners are determined through votes from MLB managers and coaches, who evaluate players based on offensive statistics such as OPS, OPS+, home runs, RBI, batting average, total bases, and runs, along with their overall offensive value.

Yordan Alvarez led most AL offensive stats

There’s plenty of Latino representation on that list. Headlined by Alvarez, Caminero, Fernando Tatits Jr., Elly De La Cruz and Rafael Devers, 13 Latinos were selected as finalists across the American and National Leagues, representing several of the sport’s most prominent offensive talents as well as some of its rising stars.

In the AL, the Latino finalists include Alvarez of the Houston Astros, Caminero of the World Series finalists Tampa Bay Rays, Randy Arozarena of the Seattle Mariners, the Boston Red Sox duo of Wilyer Abrieu and Wilson Contreras, Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox and Ezequiel Duran of the Texas Rangers.

More from Our Esquina

Yordan Alvarez highlights the Year of the Cuban in MLB

Rays bench coach Rodney Linares deserves managerial shot

Rays slugger Junior Caminero set for October stage

Alvarez is listed as a designated hitter. Caminero and Vargas are recognized as third basemen. Arozarena and Abreu earned outfield nominations, Contreras as first baseman, and Duran was among the utility finalists. 

The National League also features several familiar Latino names, including Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres, De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds, Devers of the San Francisco Giants, World Series champion Jackson Chourio of the Milwaukee Brewers, Gabriel Moreno of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Otto Lopez of the Miami Marlins.

Tatis Jr. is a finalist in both the outfield and utility categories. De La Cruz and Lopez were nominated at shortstop. Devers is a first-base finalist. Chourio is also recognized as an outfielder. Moreno is among the finalists at catcher. 

Alvarez, Caminero each crushed 42 homers

Several Latino finalists put together impressive offensive campaigns throughout the 2026 season. Álvarez led the way with a career-high 42 home runs while leading the majors in batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.432), and slugging percentage (.601).

Caminero also finished with 42 home runs and 101 RBIs for Tampa Bay. Vargas hit 33 home runs while posting an .837 OPS for Chicago. Abreu added 24 home runs and an American League-leading 38 doubles for Boston.

De La Cruz joined the 30-30 club with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases for Cincinnati. Devers finished with 37 home runs and a .525 slugging percentage, while Chourio hit 25 home runs and posted a .487 slugging percentage for Milwaukee.

Moreno also enjoyed a breakout campaign, batting .311 with an .874 OPS to become the first catcher since Buster Posey in 2012 to win a batting title.

Mike Trout seeks 10th Silver Slugger

This year’s group features notable individual storylines. Trout, who leads all active MLB players with nine Silver Slugger Awards, might  join legends Mike Piazza and Alex Rodriguez for the second most Silver Slugger Awards in MLB history.

Meanwhile, Ohtani is looking to extend his dominance at designated hitter with a fourth consecutive award. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar is also the only player to have been named a finalist in each of the six seasons since Louisville Slugger began announcing finalists in 2021. 

This year’s group also features six rookie finalists, the most since the award began announcing finalists in 2021. A rookie has won a Silver Slugger in each of the last four seasons, with Julio Rodríguez in 2022, Gunnar Henderson in 2023, Jackson Merrill in 2024 and Nick Kurtz in 2025.

The 2026 Silver Slugger Award winners will be announced next Tuesday.