WASHINGTON -- After spending his first season with the Nationals tearing through National League pitching staffs, Daniel Murphy was named the NL's Outstanding Player when the annual Players Choice Awards were announced Wednesday night.
Murphy, who is also a finalist for the NL Most Valuable Player Award, hit .347/.390/.595 with an NL-leading .985 OPS. He also had 25 homers, 104 RBIs and posted a 5.5 fWAR, all of which were career highs. He led the NL with 47 doubles, finished just shy of the batting title with the highest single-season batting average in Nationals history and tied the team record for hits (184) and doubles in a season. The Astros' José Altuve won the American League version of the award, which is voted on by the players in mid-September.
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"That, for me, is the highest praise you can get -- to be recognized by your peers," Murphy said on MLB Network.
Murphy became the third Nationals player to win a Players Choice Award after Bryce Harper won the same award in 2015 and Dmitri Young was named the 2007 Comeback Player of the Year. The Players Trust donates $20,000 to a charity of the player's choice for winning the award.

Murphy put together his impressive 2016 campaign after signing a three-year, $37.5 million contract as a free agent last offseason. He cemented the fact that he is one of the most dangerous hitters in the NL and that his performance during the '15 postseason with the Mets was no fluke.
And he will have a chance to win the NL MVP Award, which will be announced Nov. 17. The other two finalists are the Cubs' Kris Bryant and the Dodgers' Corey Seager.