2026 Silver Slugger Predictions: Kevin McGonigle could join exclusive club, Riley Greene streak

Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger award winners will be announced on Nov. 17 exclusively on FanSided, and the Tigers are well-represented. Detroit has three players among the finalists: Kevin McGonigle at both shortstop and utility, Riley Greene in the outfield, and Dillon Dingler at catcher.

Despite the overall disappointment of the Tigers' season, these three players started accumulating honors as early as the All-Star break, when they headed to Atlanta alongside Justin Verlander for the Midsummer Classic.

Since then, McGonigle has become a nearly-unanimous American League Rookie of the Year, Greene was a Hank Aaron Award nominee, and Dingler won his second Gold Glove.

And the odds that they all a Silver Slugger (in Greene's case, his second) to their mantles seem pretty high.

McGonigle has less of a shot in the shortstop category, where he's up against Bobby Witt Jr. and Zach Neto, but next to Sam Antonacci and Ezequiel Duran in utility, he has a much better shot. Dingler is up against rookie Carter Jensen, and despite his befuddling second-half slump, Dingler seems like the presumptive favorite.

Greene has steeper competition in the outfield, up against all eight of Wilyer Abreu, Randy Arozarena, Cody Bellinger, Jac Caglianone, Chase DeLauter, Tristan Peters, Chandler Simpson, and Mike Trout for three possible awards, but we'd still bet on him to take one of them.

Kevin McGonigle, Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler are all but locks to win Silver Slugger awards

If McGonigle wins, he'll join a list of just 17 rookies who have won the award since its introduction in 1980. Rookies have been on a good run lately, with Nick Kurtz, Jackson Merrill, Gunnar Henderson, and Julio Rodriguez all winning in consecutive years, and this year's rookie classes in both leagues is impressive enough that a handful more could very well join them.

A second consecutive win would mark the start of a nice streak that Tigers fans certainly hope lasts. Greene didn't have quite as splashy a year in terms of power as he did in 2025 — 21 homers and 75 RBI to 36 and 111 last season — but he cut his strikeout rate and upped his walk rate dramatically.

There would be a nice symmetry to Dingler winning both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in the same season. Placido Polanco was the last Tigers player to do it back in 2007, and Ivan Rodriguez the last Tigers catcher in 2004.

All of these nominees have their own arguments to make (some stronger than others), but we'll still bet on the Tigers' three biggest stars to pull through.

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