This Astros star deserves Silver Slugger recognition, but sadly won't get it

By nearly every measure, Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña had a career year. While it was unfortunate that Peña missed time with a broken rib and then an oblique injury, that was pretty much the only bad news at a personal level for him. In 543 plate appearances in 2025, Peña posted a .304/.363/.477 line (all career highs) and was correctly chosen for his first All-Star Game. Unfortunately, a 2025 Silver Slugger award is likely to elude him despite his dominant performance.

The Silver Slugger Awards are awards run by Louisville Slugger, but voted on by MLB managers and coaches as a way to recognize the best hitters at each position in each league. There have been some changes over the years regarding the process and categories voted upon, but the spirit has remained the same.

Normally, Peña would have an extremely strong case for a Silver Slugger as an .840 OPS at shortstop is top notch. Unfortunately, the odds that Peña actually wins are near zero and it has nothing to do with his performance and everything to do with the presence of Bobby Witt Jr.

Jeremy Peña's Silver Slugger case has a huge obstacle in Bobby Witt Jr.

On paper, a .304/.363/.477 line with 17 homers and 20 stolen bases would normally put Peña among the Silver Slugger favorites. It is strong all-around production at a premium position and while he doesn't stand out in any one category, voters typically rewards guys with high averages and who contribute meaningful in multiple aspects.

The problem is that Witt Jr. has simply outclassed Peña at shortstop this season.

Peña actually keeps pace pretty well with Witt Jr. at first and even bested him in average by nine points and on-base percentage by 12 points. However, Witt Jr. got the edge in slugging and parlayed that advantage into big margins in homers, stolen bases, and fWAR (rWAR is 7.1 vs. 5.6 in Witt Jr.'s favor as well). The WAR disparity can be partially explained by Witt Jr.'s elite defensive production this season, but the majority of the offensive metrics go Witt Jr.'s way as well.

It is a shame that Peña's brilliant 2025 season is unlikely to get Silver Slugger recognition and one hopes he at least gets some love from those that prioritize average or wRC+ (the latter of which goes Peña's way 135 vs. 130 for Witt Jr.). Witt Jr.'s excellence and name recognition may carry the day here, but that doesn't mean that Peña is unworthy.

We'll find out soon enough as to how the Silver Slugger voting turned out and for most positions, there isn't going to be much suspense. However, one hopes that the voting for AL shortstop is at least reasonably close as Peña deserves real consideration. If anyone votes for any other players than Peña or Witt Jr. in first place, just take their voting privileges away.