With the 2025 MLB awards season having come and gone, here’s a look at the most recent Silver Slugger winners at each position for the Chicago Cubs.
Though many of MLB’s awards have long, decorated histories, such as the MVP, Cy Young Award and Gold Glove award, the same can’t be said for the award handed out to the best hitter at each position in both leagues – the Silver Slugger award.
While it certainly seems like the honor has been around forever as it now routinely factors into Hall of Fame voting and the overall legacies of players, Silver Sluggers were not awarded until the 1980 season, 23 years after the 1957 debut of its defensive equivalent in the Gold Glove.
There have now been 46 seasons with Silver Sluggers handed out, though four of those years were incomplete (1981, 1994 and 1995 due to players’ strikes and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Although most teams have picked up a win at some point at most positions, many teams still have several positions in which they’ve never won a Silver Slugger at, which can partially be attributed to the dominance of certain players.
Barry Bonds and Mike Piazza are the only two players to reach double-digits in Silver Slugger wins, with 12 and 10 awards, respectively, while plenty of other players have filled up their trophy cases with multiple wins.
Here’s a look at the all-time leader in wins at each position for the Silver Slugger award across both the National League and American League:
- Pitcher – Mike Hampton (5)
- Catcher – Mike Piazza (10)
- 1B – Paul Goldschmidt (5)
- 2B – Jose Altuve (7)
- 3B – Wade Boggs (8)
- SS – Barry Larkin (9)
- OF – Barry Bonds (12)
- DH – David Ortiz (7)
In addition to those awards, the league added a utility Silver Slugger award beginning in the 2022 season, with eight different players winning the award across four seasons of play thus far.
While the Cubs certainly haven’t had the most illustrious history with the award, they’ve come up far from empty-handed. Shortstop and designated hitter remain the only positions a Cub has never won a Silver Slugger at, with the latter only becoming a full-time National League award in 2022.
Though his tenure with the team will almost certainly go down as a one-year cameo, Kyle Tucker became the latest Cub to take home the award, winning one of the three outfield Silver Sluggers in 2025.
Here’s a look at the last Cub to win at each position:
Pitcher: Jake Arrieta (2016)
Before the National League did away with pitchers hitting after the 2021 season, the Cubs were known for having a rich history of pitchers who could swing the bat. Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Travis Wood were all known as solid hitting pitchers, while Carlos Zambrano was arguably the best to ever do it before Shohei Ohtani.
The latest and final excellent showing from a hurler at the plate came from Jake Arrieta in 2016, who was dominant on the mound and showed plenty of value at the plate throughout a two-season stretch from 2015-16.
Arrieta was 17-for-65 in 2016, putting up two doubles and two home runs with seven RBI and a .262/.304/.415/.720 slash line, good for an 89 OPS+. Though it didn’t factor into his award win, Arrieta solidified his status as an elite hitting pitcher with a three-run blast in Game 3 of the 2016 NLDS, off Madison Bumgarner nonetheless.
Catcher: Michael Barrett (2005)
Though the Cubs had excellent seasons over the years from Willson Contreras and Geovany Soto, it’s been two decades since a North Side backstop took home the honor, with Michael Barrett winning it in 2005.
Never an offensive stud, Barrett put up the best numbers of his career during his three-plus seasons with the Cubs, with 2005 giving the catcher the lone award of his career.
Barrett slugged for 32 doubles and 16 home runs alongside 61 RBI and a .276/.345/.479/.824 slash line in 133 games, amounting to a 110 OPS+. He remains the lone Cubs catcher to win a Silver Slugger award at the position.
First Base: Anthony Rizzo (2016)
In the middle of his prime as an elite first baseman on both sides of the ball, Cubs icon Anthony Rizzo won his lone Silver Slugger award in the team’s World Series-winning 2016 season.
Also finishing fourth in NL MVP voting with an All-Star appearance and Gold Glove award, Rizzo was a menace at the plate. Posting 5.8 WAR, Rizzo had 43 doubles, 32 home runs and 109 RBI to go with a .292/.385/.544/.928 slash line and elite 143 OPS+.
Though often overshadowed at his position by the likes of Paul Goldschmidt, Freddie Freeman and Adrián González, Rizzo emerged at the best at his position while echoing the individual peaks many of his teammates reached that season.
Rizzo retired after the 2024 season, finishing his career with three All-Star appearances, four Gold Glove awards, a Roberto Clemente Award and a Platinum Glove award in addition to his Silver Slugger.
Second Base: Javier Báez (2018)
Though known as a defensive stalwart who can play just about anywhere on the diamond, Báez’s best offensive season came primarily as a second baseman in 2018, though he still played 65 games at shortstop throughout the season.
An MVP favorite until Christian Yelich pulled away in the final month of the season, Báez was an unstoppable force for much of the season, leading the NL with 111 RBI while putting up 34 home runs, 40 doubles and nine triples.
While strikeouts remained an issue, Báez slashed .290/.326/.554/.881, good for a 129 OPS+ alongside 101 runs scored and 21 stolen bases as well. The 25-year-old went on to finish the season as the MVP runner-up, picking up his first of three All-Star appearances in addition to the Silver Slugger.
Báez just wrapped up a resurgent 2025 season with the Detroit Tigers, which saw him return to the All-Star Game for the first time since 2019 en route to an ALDS run in his fourth season with the team.
Third Base: Aramis Ramírez (2011)
Perhaps the most surprising inclusion on this list, the Cubs have been without a Silver Slugger at the hot corner for 14 years despite third baseman Kris Bryant winning the NL MVP at the position in 2016.
Despite Bryant’s all-around accolades, Nolan Arenado was chosen over him as that year’s third base Silver Slugger, taking us back to the 2011 season to find the last Cub winner.
Ramírez offered an excellent parting gift for the Cubs in his final season with the team, managing 35 doubles, 26 home runs and 93 RBI with a .306/.361/.510/.871 slash line, showcasing the elite mix of contact and power he was known for throughout his career in his age-33 season.
With the performance coming for a forgettable 71-91 Cubs team, the Silver Slugger was the lone honor Ramírez received for the season, though he continued to have a few more productive years after leaving the Cubs. The third baseman went on to the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers, finishing ninth in NL MVP voting in 2012 while leading the senior circuit with 50 doubles.
OF: Kyle Tucker (2025)
Though it’s all but ensured to have been his only season on Chicago’s North Side, Kyle Tucker still put up a quite solid 2025 campaign despite injuries hampering his second-half production.
In line to receive a mega-deal this year in free agency, Tucker posted 4.6 WAR across 136 games, with 25 doubles, 22 home runs and 25 stolen bases to go along with 87 walks to 88 strikeouts. He slashed .266/.377/.464/.841, well below what comprised his titanic 179 OPS+ in his shortened 2024 season but still good enough for an excellent 143 OPS+.
Tucker was named to his fourth-straight All-Star Game on the strength of his 2025 first half, while also taking home the second Silver Slugger of his career, previously winning the award with the Houston Astros in 2023.
UTIL: Cody Bellinger (2023)
After three seasons of relatively lackluster play that followed an MVP campaign in 2019, Bellinger’s career was rejuvenated after arriving in Chicago as a center fielder/first baseman in 2023.
Despite missing a month of action due to injury, Bellinger nearly willed his team to a postseason appearance, putting up 4.8 WAR with 29 doubles, 26 home runs and 20 stolen bases alongside 97 RBI.
After three years of averages peaking in the lower 200s, Bellinger hit for a .307 average with a 139 OPS+, perhaps sacrificing some of his power for an excellent ability to hit the ball to all parts of the field.
Bellinger’s Silver Slugger was the second of his career, with his first being awarded to him as an outfielder in 2019. He also finished 10th in NL MVP voting, the highest mark for a Cub in that year’s balloting.
Bellinger went on to play one more season with the Cubs before heading to the New York Yankees, where he put up an outstanding 2025 campaign that included a 14th place finish in AL MVP voting. He is once again a free agent.
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