Desmond wins second straight NL Silver Slugger Award

By Bill Ladson

November 6, 2013

WASHINGTON -- Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond was the recipient of 2013 National League Silver Slugger Award at his position on Wednesday. It's the second consecutive year he received the honor.

Desmond had a solid season in 2013, hitting .280 with 20 homers, 80 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. Desmond also had a slugging percentage of .453 and an OPS of .784.

Desmond is one of two players in Nats history to hit 20 homers with 20 stolen bases in a season (Alfonso Soriano, 2006), and he played an integral role as the club battled for the final NL Wild Card spot.

Although he has had success the past two years, Desmond recently said he is not satisfied with his work on the field.

"[Bench coach] Randy Knorr told me a long time ago, 'Don't ever feel comfortable, because you never know. There is always somebody behind you that wants your job,'" Desmond said.

Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, All Nats All the time. He also could be found on Twitter @WashinNats.