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Guerrero Jr., Semien among five Blue Jays up for 2021 Silver Slugger Awards

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien are two of five Blue Jays in the mix for the Silver Slugger Awards. (Getty)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien are two of five Blue Jays in the mix for the Silver Slugger Awards. (Getty)

The Toronto Blue Jays have five new chances to add to a record-breaking 2021 season.

That's how many Blue Jays hitters are among the finalists for the 2021 American League Silver Slugger Awards, MLB announced on Monday. The award, decided by votes from managers and coaches, is awarded to the best offensive player at each position.

Toronto hit 262 home runs on the year to break its single-season record and finished just shy of a playoff spot with 91 wins. The team also had four different hitters with over 100 RBIs in a single season for the first time in franchise history — all of them on the finalists list.

Outfielder Teoscar Hernández has a chance to become the Blue Jays' first back-to-back Silver Slugger since Josh Donaldson. Hernández won the award last year and finished in 11th place in AL MVP voting. He followed that up with with 116 RBIs and 32 homers this year, which earned him his first career All-Star selection.

MVP-calibre seasons from Marcus Semien and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. cemented their names on the finalists list for second and first base, respectively. Bo Bichette's 29-homer year earned him a spot at shortstop. Outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. rounds out the list of Blue Jays up for the award.

Guerrero Jr. finished the year with 48 home runs, the youngest player in history to achieve the feat. The 22-year-old sported a .311 batting average and 111 RBIs, coming close to winning the AL Triple Crown. He was also named All-Star Game MVP.

A line-drive machine with sneaky power, Bichette led the Blue Jays in hits with 191 and drove in 102 runs, finishing the season with a .298 batting average. Bichette led the team with 25 stolen bases and tacked on 60 extra-base hits.

Pending free agent Semien also got the first All-Star nod of his career this season. The veteran infielder played all 162 games, breaking the MLB record for home runs by a second baseman with 45, and putting up a 7.1 WAR that trailed only Carlos Correa's 7.2 mark.

For Gurriel Jr., the season went from potential bust to undeniable success. The native of Cuba was streaky at times, but he had 21 homers and 84 RBIs along with 51 extra-base hits in 141 games played. He set a Blue Jays team record with four grand slams in a year and recorded a .301 batting average with a .993 OPS in the final month of the regular season.

The last time the Blue Jays had multiple Silver Slugger winners in one season was 2009, when Adam Lind and Aaron Hill earned the award.

The competition is stiff, of course. Guerrero Jr. will go up against none other than Gurriel Jr.'s brother, Yuli Gurriel, who led all of baseball with a .319 batting average and is one of six Houston Astros nominated for the award.

Potential AL MVP Shohei Ohtani headlines the finalists at DH.

On the National League side, the World Series-bound Atlanta Braves feature four Silver Slugger finalists, including last year's NL MVP Freddie Freeman. Canadian Joey Votto is also on the list.

This season's Silver Slugger winners will be revealed on Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. ET. Below is a list of all finalists for 2021.

American League

1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR), Yuli Gurriel (HOU), Matt Olson (OAK)

2B: Marcus Semien (TOR), Jose Altuve (HOU), DJ LeMahieu (NYY), Jorge Polanco (MIN)

3B: Rafael Devers (BOS), José Ramírez (CLE), Kyle Seager (SEA)

SS: Carlos Correa (HOU), Xander Bogaerts (BOS), Tim Anderson (CWS), Bo Bichette (TOR)

OF: Cedric Mullins (BAL), Teoscar Hernández (TOR), Aaron Judge (NYY), Kyle Tucker (HOU), Mitch Haniger (SEA), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (TOR), Hunter Renfroe (BOS), Randy Arozarena (TB)

C: Salvador Perez (KC), Mike Zunino (TB), Gary Sánchez (NYY)

DH: Shohei Ohtani (LAA), Yordan Álvarez (HOU), Giancarlo Stanton (NYY), Joey Gallo (NYY), Nelson Cruz (TB)

National League

1B: Freddie Freeman (ATL), Joey Votto (CIN), Paul Goldschmidt (STL), Max Muncy (LAD)

2B: Ozzie Albies (ATL), Jonathan India (CIN), Jake Cronenworth (SD), Justin Turner (LAD)

3B: Austin Riley (ATL), Manny Machado (SD), Nolan Arenado (STL), Patrick Wisdom (CHC)

SS: Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD), Brandon Crawford (SF), Trea Turner (LAD), Willy Adames (MIL)

OF: Juan Soto (WAS), Nick Castellanos (CIN), Bryce Harper (PHI), Bryan Reynolds (PIT), Adam Duvall (ATL), Jesse Winker (CIN), Tyler O’Neill (STL)

C: Buster Posey (SF), Will Smith (LAD), J.T. Realmuto (PHI), Omar Narváez (MIL)

P: Germán Márquez (COL), Max Fried (ATL), Jacob deGrom (NYM), Madison Bumgarner (AZ)

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