Dodgers' Silver Slugger team nod falls flat after offense's sour end to 2026

In 2025, the Los Angeles Dodgers had four players among Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger award finalists — Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, and Max Muncy — in addition to being up for the overall team award.

The Dodgers as a collective ended up edging out the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs for the team nod, which only made sense. Last year, LA led the National League in home runs, RBI, runs scored, walks, and OPS, all by a rather significant margin. The reigning two-time World Series champions ended up with their third ring in their last six seasons for a reason.

This year, Ohtani, Muncy, and the Dodgers as a group are finalists again. Ohtani and Muncy come as no surprise, but even Dodgers fans would tell you that the team isn't particularly deserving of this win after the way they closed out the 2026 season.

This year, the Cubs led the NL in home runs, RBI, runs scored, walks, and OPS, kicking the Dodgers off their pedestal handily. LA ended up fourth in homers, RBI, and runs scored, third in walks, and second in OPS.

The offense bears the brunt of the responsibility for the Dodgers' failure to three-peat. Although the postseason isn't taken into account during Silver Slugger voting, cracks had started to form as early as July.

Dodgers might not be deserving of a 2026 Silver Slugger team award after the offense faded away

The Dodgers as a whole hit .247 in July and .241 in August, with their collective OPS dipping to a season-low .689 in the latter month. It was the only month when they posted a below-.500 record and came out of their first 10 games at 3-7.

Although they picked it back up in September, the few weeks after the All-Star break were dire, and Dodgers fans could feel the vultures starting to circle. LA still posed a threat just by existing, but they revealed their mortality to the rest of the league.

There were some positive signs both in September and in the postseason. Kyle Tucker, Teoscar Hernández, and Mookie Betts picked things back up, and Josue De Paula added a nice little boost. But Ohtani was hurt and Freddie Freeman hit under .200 to close out his season.

The Cubs are almost certainly going to win this time around, as well they should after their regular season performance. The Dodgers need to use it as fuel for 2027.

Tune in on November 17 when Silver Slugger winners are presented by FanSided.

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