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Nationals' 3B Anthony Rendon, SS Ian Desmond win Silver Slugger Awards

In his first full season in the majors, Washington Nationals' third baseman Anthony Rendon took home the Silver Slugger Award for NL third basemen. Nats' shortstop Ian Desmond made it three straight Silver Slugger Awards, taking the Silver at short.

By Patrick Reddington
Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

In his first full major league season, 24-year-old Washington Nationals' third baseman Anthony Rendon took home some silver.

The Nats' 2011 1st Round pick was named the National League winner of the Silver Slugger at third base tonight.

Joining Rendon in receiving an award was Ian Desmond, 29, who took the Silver Slugger at shortstop for the third straight season.

Rendon finished the year with a .287/.351/.473 line, 39 doubles, six triples and 21 HRs in 153 games and 683 plate appearances over which he was worth +6.6 fWAR.

Desmond, in winning his third straight Silver Slugger at short, finished the season at +4.1 fWAR with a .255/.313/.430 line, 26 doubles and 24 HRs in 154 games and 648 plate appearances.

In 2013, Desmond put up a .280/.331/.453 line with 38 doubles and 20 HRs after a 2012 campaign in which he posted a .292/.335/.511 line with 33 doubles and 25 HRs.

As the Nationals noted on Twitter, Desmond became the first NL shortstop since Barry Larkin to win three straight. Larkin went on to win two more, taking the Silver Slugger at short in five straight seasons from 1988-1992:

Here's what Rendon and Desmond had to say about receiving the awards as quoted in a press release from the Nationals tonight:

Rendon:

"'While I don’t play this game for the individual accolades, I’m incredibly honored to receive this award and to be mentioned in the same breath as these great players -- especially my teammate and friend, Ian Desmond. I would like to thank all of the coaches, trainers and teammates who I’ve been with along the way. Without them, I wouldn’t be in a position to accept this.'"

Desmond:

"'I am extremely humbled and blessed to have won this award for the third straight year. It’s a testament to my teammates, who surround me in the lineup, the trainers – Lee Kuntz, Steve Gober and John Hsu – for keeping me on the field, and obviously the coaching staff for bringing out the best in me every day.

'As much of an honor as this is, I still feel like there are a lot of things I can improve on, and will improve on. I’m going to continue to work hard so I can be better next year."

NOTE: As a press release on the Silver Slugger Awards tonight noted, the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Awards are, "determined by a vote of Major League Baseball managers and coaches who selected the players they felt were the best offensive producers at each position." The selections, "...were based on a combination of offensive statistics, including batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage as well as the managers' and coaches' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value."

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