As a whole, the 2026 Red Sox were not close to the offensive powerhouse they needed to be in order to make a deep postseason run.
But did any of their players have a Silver Slugger Award-worthy season? Or will they finish as runners-up on an individual scale, too?
The outlook isn’t particularly promising. Major League Baseball’s official rules stipulate that a batter must record at least 3.1 plate appearances per scheduled league game to qualify for rate stats. The Red Sox did not have a qualified designated hitter, catcher, second baseman or shortstop, which automatically takes them out of the running for four of the 11 awards.
Take Boston out of the running for the team Silver Slugger Award, too. They ranked sixth in hits, stolen bases and strikeouts, fifth in batting average, and fourth in OBP, but they were worse than league average in runs-per-game (4.25), runs, home runs, RBI and walks.
The Red Sox collected the second-most doubles in the majors this year, but even that is a disappointing metric, given they finished top of the heap in seven of the previous eight seasons dating back to 2018. Boston batters doubled 285 times in 2026, a sharp decline from 324 in 2025 and their first 162-game season without at least 300 two-baggers since 2015.
Here’s how qualified Red Sox players stack up against the competition.
First base
Willson Contreras’ first season in Boston was a career year. He led qualified American League first basemen with a .275 average and .386 on-base percentage, and ranked second with a .522 slugging percentage.
These numbers could make Contreras a finalist, but he’s unlikely to bring home the hardware because his production still paled in comparison to that of his positional peers. He ranked fifth in RBI (81) and walks (59), seventh in hits (123) and runs (68), and ninth in doubles (21).
Contreras’ career-high 27 led the Red Sox roster, but ranked fifth among the first basemen; new Baltimore Orioles slugger Pete Alonso led the group with 43 home runs, and Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami finished second with 35.
Third base
Caleb Durbin overcame a frigid start to put together a solid overall offensive campaign; he averaged .248, with a .710 OPS, 126 hits, 25 doubles, 13 home runs, 74 runs and 64 RBI in 153 games in his first Red Sox season.
But Durbin is unlikely to be a finalist, as none of his offensive metrics rank higher than fourth among the eight qualified AL third basemen. He certainly has no chance against Tampa Bay Rays star third baseman Junior Caminero, who not only led the group in nearly every offensive metric, but also ranked near the top of the league overall.
Outfield
As is the case with the Gold Glove Award, which he has already won each of the last two years, Wilyer Abreu has the best chance of winning a Silver Slugger.
Abreu led all 21 qualified AL outfielders with 66 extra-base hits and 38 doubles, and ranked in the top-three in games, home runs, total bases, runs scored and RBI.
Jarren Duran put together the second 20-20 season of his career, but has zero chance of getting a Silver Slugger nod. His .266 OBP and .627 OPS ranked last, and he tied Mike Trout for the most strikeouts in the class.
Because Silver Sluggers are awarded to three outfielders rather than one per specific position, Ceddanne Rafaela is on the outer fringes of the finalist pool. He tied for the third-most hits (154) and doubles (32), ranked fourth in batting average (.285) and sixth in SLG, extra-base hits and total bases.
If Silver Slugger distinguished between the three outfield positions, Rafaela would have a strong case to defeat his four fellow qualified center fielders. Despite playing the fourth-fewest games of the quintet, he outpaced them with 154 hits, 32 doubles and .444 SLG. Rafaela’s .285 batting average ranked at least 38 points higher than the rest of the competition, and he finished one RBI shy of Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez’s top total (71), and with the second-highest on-base percentage (.321) and OPS (.765) of the group.
