Michael Brantley & Yan Gomes Earn Silver Slugger Awards

OF MICHAEL BRANTLEY and C YAN GOMES have been awarded 2014 Silver Slugger Awards.

Louisville Slugger annually awards Silver Sluggers to the top offensive player at each position in the American and National Leagues. The award is voted on by four members of each club's coaching staff. It is the first career Silver Slugger Award for each player and marks the first time since 2000 the Indians placed two hitters on the exclusive club.

Brantley, recently named an A.L. MVP finalist, earned his first American League All-Star selection in 2014 and led the club and set career-bests in virtually every offensive category, becoming the first Indians player to amass 200 hits, 45+ doubles, 20+ HR, 20+ stolen bases in the 114-year history of the franchise (9th overall player in MLB history). He became the 9th member of the club's 20 homers/20 steal club and the first Indians hitter since 1996 to record 200 hits. Among A.L. batters he finished 3rd in the A.L. in average (.327) and doubles (45), 2nd in hits (200), 4th in on-base pct. (.385), T6th in runs (94), 7th in OPS (.890), 11th in steals (23) and 12th in RBI (97). He is the first Indians outfielder to earn a Silver Slugger Award since Grady Sizemore in 2008.

Gomes, 27, hit .278 (135-485) with 25 doubles, 21 home runs and 74 RBI in 135 games in 2014, leading American League catchers in average (.278), OPS (.785) and extra base hits (49) and was 2nd in RBI (74) and 3rd in homers (21). The Sao Paulo, Brazil native joined Carlos Santana, Victor Martinez, Sandy Alomar & John Romano as only Indians catchers with 20+ HR, 60+ R and 70+ RBI in a single-season. In his first full season in the Majors, Yan finished 12th in slugging pct (.472), 19th in OPS (.785) and 9th in average vs. LHP (.331) in the entire A.L. among the 76 batters who qualified for the batting title while his 51 RBI over the season's final 86 games (6/24-9/28) were 2nd on the club behind Santana (55). He is the only catcher in club history to win the *Silver Slugger Award outright (Martinez shared the award in 2004).

INDIANS SILVER SLUGGER AWARD WINNERS SINCE 2000
2B Roberto Alomar (2000)
F Manny Ramirez (2000)
OF Juan Gonzalez (2001)
C Victor Martinez (2004)
OF Grady Sizemore (2008)
SS Asdrubal Cabrera (2011)  
OF Michael Brantley (2014)
C Yan Gomes (2014)

*Award established in 1980