4 Cardinals you probably forgot won the Silver Slugger Award

The St. Louis Cardinals' season ended with yet another record under .500, and when the entire team performed as poorly as they did, fans should not expect to see their favorite players taking home any annual awards. Without a superstar to compete for the MVP or Cy Young awards, there is always the Silver Slugger Award, sponsored by Louisville Slugger, which tends to see some other breakout names that may not have put up all-around stats for the larger awards.

While we were spoiled with the likes of Albert Pujols, who took home the Silver Slugger six times while playing with St. Louis, the team had plenty of one-off winners, and actually quite a few pitchers before the NL employed the full-time designated hitter.

This year, FanSided is excited to share that we are the official destination to hear first about both the Silver Slugger nominations and the official winners. Voting is done by MLB coaches and managers, and they are instructed to use a combination of stats and thier own professional opinon of hwo are the best hitters in the game.

4 former Cardinals who won Silver Slugger awards

Ryan Ludwick - 2008

The most recent "obscure" name comes mainly because the winner was a late-career breakout who had a short time in the sun before fading away as quickly as he burst on the scene. After being drafted in the second round of the MLB Draft by the Athletics in 1999, outfielder Ryan Ludwick spent the next seven seasons mainly in the minor leagues, totaling just over 100 games played in the majors from 2002-2005. Ludwick looked like a great pick, as he hit a combined 70 homers from 2000-2002 and received his first taste of the big leagues for the Rangers, appearing in 23 games through the end of the season.

He was not able to bring that to the major league level, though, and after bouncing around from Texas to Detroit, he found himself back in the minors for the entire 2006 season. After a 28-homer season with the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate, the Cardinals decided to take a chance on him and signed him coming into the 2007 season. He put together a nice 120 game season for the Cardinals that year, smacking 36 extra-base hits on his way to becoming a mainstay in the lineup.

2008 was Ludwick's true announcement to the league, as the 29-year-old became a force in the middle of the order, providing protection for Albert Pujols, Troy Glaus, and Rick Ankiel, as Ludwick tied for the team lead with 37 homers and finished with 113 RBIs, just three behind Pujols. With a .966 OPS and his first All-Star appearance, Ludwick finished 16th in NL MVP voting that year but did not go home totally empty-handed, as he was named a Silver Slugger award winner for the outfield along with the Brewers' Ryan Braun and the Rockies' Matt Holliday. That would be the best season of Ludwick's career as he spent the next year and a half with the Cardinals before jumping around between the Padres, Pirates, and Reds.

Jason Marquis - 2005

Next on the list comes one of my all-time favorite random Cardinals, who would actually fit pretty well in the organization's continued commitment towards pitch-to-contact pitchers. Jason Marquis was a headliner in the December 2003 deal that sent J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero to the Braves in exchange for Marquis, reliever Ray King, and future ace Adam Wainwright.

Marquis was coming off of a few mediocre seasons in a row and headed to St. Louis in need of a change of scenery. His first year with the Cardinals helped him stabilize a rotation that finished the 2004 campaign with three 15-game winners. That set him up to be locked into the starting five in 2005 and build upon his success. While the pitching portion did not go as well, the already good hitting pitcher stepped up his offense. In 87 at-bats, Marquis hit .310 with a homer, eight doubles, and 10 RBIs, leading to a 103 OPS+ en route to his own Silver Slugger award. Just for fun, that OPS+ and his .786 OPS would be better than all but five hitters on the 2025 Cardinals team.

Ozzie Smith - 1987

The next two names on the list are more well-known players in Cardinals history, but not typically because of their offensive prowess. In 1987, "The Wizard" Ozzie Smith did whatever he could on both sides of the ball for the NL Pennant winners. In his career, Smith was a 15-time All-Star and 13-time Gold Glove award winner before being named to the Hall of Fame, but was only honored with one Silver Slugger award.

In 1987, not only did Smith win the Silver Slugger by hitting .303 with 75 RBIs and 43 stolen bases, he took home the award without hitting a single homer while knocking 40 doubles and four triples. Over his 19-year career, the 1987 campaign was the only year that Smith hit over .300 and he put up a career-high .775 OPS.

Bob Forsch - 1980, 1987

Finally, the only two-time winner but second pitcher on the list is Cardinal legend Bob Forsch, who played in St. Louis in 15 of his 16 seasons in the bigs. As a pitcher, Forsch held his own, going 168-136 with a 3.76 ERA in his career, but the only two individual honors he earned during his stay were because of his offensive value.

Forsch was a two-time NL Silver Slugger award winner in 1980 and 1987, hitting .295 and .298, respectively, while hitting five total homers and putting up above-average offensive seasons by measure of WRC+. After Forsch and Marquis, the last Cardinal pitcher to win the award was Adam Wainwright, and he will likely go down as the final person to win the award as a pitcher for St. Louis, assuming that the universal DH is here to stay for the lengthy future.