Most surprising Silver Slugger winner in Pittsburgh Pirates history

It's been a while since a Pittsburgh Pirates player has taken home Silver Slugger honors. After watching the Pirates' historically bad offense in 2025, it probably won't surprise you to learn that the last player to win the award in Pittsburgh was Andrew McCutchen during his first stint in Pittsburgh back in 2015.

Current misery aside, the Pirates actually have a rich history with the award. Created in 1980, a good number of franchise legends never got the opportunity to win the honor of offensive excellence. Still, a Pirate has been bestowed with the award 14 times, with multiple players taking home the honor more than once.

McCutchen has the most Silver Sluggers in team history with four, while Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and pitcher Rick Rhoden each took home the hardware thrice. With Silver Sluggers in both 1988 and 1992, Andy Van Slyke is the club's only other multi-time winner.

While those names are all no surprise, one name stands out as the most unexpected winner the Pirates have seen, and his stat line will shock you. Who could it be? None other than Pedro Alvarez.

Pedro Alvarez is the most surprising Silver Slugger winner in Pirates history

In 2013, a 26-year-old Pedro Alvarez was named to the NL All-Star team in a season in which he'd crush 36 dingers and drive in 100 runs. He was also invited to participate in the 2013 Home Run Derby. Easy pick for the Silver Slugger at the hot corner, right?

Well, that was the good in Alvarez's season, but with it came a lot of bad. 2013 was the precipice of the three-true-outcomes era; however, of those outcomes, Alvarez only had two. The lefty-swinging third baseman certainly had the home run part down, but he was also prolific at striking out, leading the league with 186 Ks. Those 186 strikeouts set a Pirates franchise record that still stands today.

The third outcome, walks? Well, that wasn't really a part of Alvarez's game, as the powerful third baseman racked up just 48. His hit tool wasn't great either, and he batted just .233 on the season in question. Combined with the paltry amount of walks, Alvarez would record a sub-.300 on-base percentage, coming in at .296.

Obviously, there's a lot to pick apart here, but it was not a performance devoid of positives. The bigger question is, was this really the best the National League had to offer at the hot corner?

Not exactly. While it certainly wasn't a good year for third basemen in the senior circuit, two stand out as clearly more deserving. David Wright of the New York Mets had arguably the best year, slashing .307/.390/.514 with 18 homers, but he was limited to just 112 games, which seemed to sway the voters in a different direction.

Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals also had a better claim. The Nats third baseman posted a .275/.344/.465 line with 26 dingers over 147 games. Despite clearly lapping Alvarez in the average and OBP departments, it seems crossing the 30-homer threshold with the magic number of 100 RBI was enough for the voters to bestow the Pirate with the honors. Nonetheless, a panel of MLB managers and coaches preferred Alvarez's pop, and the rest was history.

Alvarez would play just two more seasons in Pittsburgh, moving over to first base in hopes of hiding his atrocious glove. He'd never crack the 30-homer plateau again, but his final two seasons with the Pirates had a similar feel. He'd go on to play three seasons with the Baltimore Orioles before hanging it up after the 2018 season.

For his career, Alvarez slashed .236/.310/.447 with 162 long balls. A fine career, no doubt, but not one that would make you think he was ever the best hitter at his position. The Silver Slugger in his trophy case says differently, however.