Pirates Insider: What are Brandon Lowe’s chances of winning a Silver Slugger?

Brandon Lowe faced an uphill battle when it came to potentially winning a Gold Glove. He has a better shot when it comes to the National League Silver Slugger Award — for which Lowe was announced as a finalist on Thursday.

It’s Lowe and Milwaukee’s Brice Turang, who ultimately won the Gold Glove at second base. Lowe has a strong case after leading all MLB second basemen in home runs (33), slugging percentage (.499) and OPS (.831) this past season.

That home run total represents the most in franchise history for a second baseman in a single season, surpassing Neil Walker’s 23 from 2014.

If Lowe wins, he'd become the third Pirates second baseman to win a Silver Slugger since 1980, along with Johnny Ray (1983) and Walker (2014).

Those aforementioned numbers for Lowe also only include his time at second base, not designated hitter. When you add everything up, Lowe hit .260 with 29 doubles, 35 homers, 96 RBIs and an .824 OPS in 150 games.

We'll compare that to Turang in a second, but first, what is a Silver Slugger?

Established in 1980, Silver Sluggers Awards are voted on by managers and coaches, who aren’t allowed to vote for players on their own teams. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

There’s certainly an arguable case between Turang and Lowe, depending on how you want to appraise offensive production.

In 151 games, Turang hit .268 for the Brewers and had an .816 OPS that included 37 doubles, three triples and 21 home runs. Turang finished with 100 RBIs and 102 runs scored, scoring a slight edge over Lowe in both categories.

Using Baseball Reference, Turang edges Lowe in wins above replacement (7.3 to 5.4), as well as offense-only WAR (5.0 to 4.1). Lowe was the better slugger, but Turang — who obviously played on a better team — got on base and ran more than Lowe.

Just kind of depends on what voters like or how they interpret value to a team. Or whether anyone wants to adhere to the slugging thing.

Lowe was a huge piece of a club that won 82 games; remove him, and it would’ve been very costly. The Brewers might've absorbed the loss of Turang, but he also had a terrific season on the team that won it all.

Hard to say one is right or wrong.

Should Lowe win, he'd be the Pirates’ first Silver Slugger in more than a decade, since Andrew McCutchen won his fourth in 2015. Lowe would become the 12th Pirates player (22nd instance) to win a Silver Slugger.

The list, in case you're curious:

Don Robinson, 1982

Johnny Ray, 1983

Rick Rhoden, 3 times, 1984-86

Bobby Bonilla, 3 times, 1988 & 1990-91

Andy Van Slyke, 2 times, 1988 & 1992

Barry Bonds, 3 times, 1990-92

Jay Bell, 1993

Jack Wilson, 2004

McCutchen, 4 times, 2012-15

Pedro Alvarez, 2013

Walker, 2014

Lowe is the Pirates’ first Silver Slugger finalist since Bryan Reynolds in 2024. Furthermore, Lowe’s 35 homers were the most by any player in his first season with the team in franchise history, trailing only Brian Giles’ 39 in 1999.

Among all NL players, Lowe ranked sixth in home runs, tied for seventh in extra-base hits (65) and total bases (288), ninth in RBIs and 10th in slugging percentage.

It would also be the first Silver Slugger of Lowe’s career.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.