Cincinnati Reds: Michael Lorenzen was robbed of the Silver Slugger Award

After Major League Baseball announced the winners of the 2018 Silver Slugger Awards, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen was added to the list of Reds players who have been robbed of postseason awards this year.

Chalk up Michael Lorenzen as the latest Cincinnati Reds player to be the latest snub when it comes to MLB’s postseason awards. The Silver Slugger Award for a pitcher in the National League went to Colorado’s German Marquez. Um, what?!

Michael Lorenzen finished the 2018 regular season with unparalleled batting stats for a pitcher. Lorenzen finished 2018 with a .290 batting average, a .333 on-base percentage, and an unbelievable .710 slugging percentage.

Lorenzen had 9 hits, 5 runs scored, and 10 runs batted in with only 31 at-bats He also had an outstanding 4 home runs, one of which was a pinch-hit grand slam. Yes, you read that right, a pitcher was brought in to pinch hit.

The Colorado Rockies’ German Marquez finished the 2018 regular season with a .300 batting average, a .300 on-base percentage, and a .350 slugging percentage. He had 18 hits, 1 home run, and 4 runs scored in 60 at-bats as well as 5 runs batted in.

Looking at statistics alone, one would think Michael Lorenzen to be a no-brainer to win the Silver Slugger, yet the award went to Marquez. Lorenzen’s snub didn’t sit well with some of his teammates either. A few of them took to Twitter to share their dismay, including fellow pitcher Sal Romano.

Lorenzen was absolutely remarkable at the plate this season. Four home runs in 31 plate appearances are just unbelievable. It’s so rare for a pitcher to have numbers like that. Lorenzen had particular success against the Milwaukee Brewers. Two of his at-bats against them ended in multi-run home runs.

On June 21 in Cincinnati, Lorenzen blasted a pinch-hit grand slam against the Brewers. Then on August 29 in Milwaukee, after a failed attempt at bunting and nearly being hit by a pitch Lorenzen smacked his fourth home run of the season to bring in 3 runs.

Don’t misunderstand me, German Marquez is a great player, but in my opinion, hitting one home run off a position player does not make someone deserving of a silver slugger, especially in comparison to players like Lorenzen.

Lorenzen’s slugging percentage is more than double Marquez’s.  He has more than double the number of home runs and twice as many RBIs. Lorenzen has the same number of hits as Marquez in as many at-bats. Michael Lorenzen is the definition of pitchers who rake. He earned this award, and for him to lose is just confusing and unfair.