4 ridiculous Silver Slugger snubs for the Cardinals since 2010

Silver Slugger Award winners will be announced exclusively on FanSided and on the Baseball Insiders live stream on November 6 at 6 P.M. EST this year. This exclusive honor for FanSided is well deserved, and Adam Weinreb and Robert Murray will do an excellent job representing the outlet at the show.

The award, which is sponsored by Louisville Slugger, is voted on by a combination of managers and coaches across Major League Baseball who use statistics and analysis to determine winners. Louisville Slugger doesn't determine the winners; rather, coaches and managers do. Here are the full details of exactly how voting works, straight from Louisville Slugger:

"A vote of MLB managers and coaches decides the Silver Slugger Award winners. They cast ballots for the players they determine to be the best offensive producers at each position in their respective league. Each team receives four votes: the manager and three coaches of their choice. Votes are based on a combination of offensive statistics including OBP, OPS, OPS+, home runs, hits, RBI and batting average as well as the managers’ and coaches’ general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value. The accounting firm of Deming, Malone, Livesay & Ostroff verifies the tabulation of ballots."

Since the award's establishment in 1980, the St. Louis Cardinals have had 21 different players win the award 31 times total. Albert Pujols has the most in franchise history, with six Silver Slugger trophies to his name.

However, the Cardinals should have had several more award winners in their history, but several players were robbed of the nomination over the years.

These 4 Cardinals were robbed of a Silver Slugger Award during their time in St. Louis.

Albert Pujols - 2022

Let's start with the most recent one. The Cardinals signed Albert Pujols to a one-year deal before the 2022 season to be the club's primary designated hitter who would occasionally spell Paul Goldschmidt at first base. Pujols was entering his final season in baseball, and he and the organization thought it would be fitting for Albert to retire with the club that originally drafted him.

Pujols had a rocky start to his final year in the majors. He finished the first half with a .676 OPS and only six home runs in 53 games. He was pushing for 700 home runs that year, and he was still 15 short of that milestone. With only 60 or so games to go in the second half, Albert had a steep mountain to climb.

He would eventually surpass the 700-home run mark, hitting 703 for his career, as he would mash 18 second-half home runs and post an OPS of 1.103 in 56 games. Albert finished the year with a .270/.345/.550 slash line for an OPS of .895 to go along with 24 home runs and 68 runs batted in.

However, Josh Bell of the San Diego Padres won the award that year at designated hitter. Bell's wRC+ was a full 24 points lower than Pujols's that year, and he hit only 3 home runs as a designated hitter to Albert's 13.

From a narrative perspective alone, Albert Pujols should've won the award given his historic final year in the majors. From a statistical perspective, Josh Bell didn't hold a candle to Albert as a designated hitter.

Tommy Pham - 2017

2017 was Tommy Pham's best year as a professional. He finished the year with a .306/.411/.520 slash line, 23 home runs, 25 stolen bases, and 95 runs scored. He finished in the top three of all National League outfielders that year in batting average, on-base percentage (he was actually first in this statistic), wOBA, and wRC+. He was a potent hitter that year, but apparently, voters didn't think he was good enough to be one of the three recipients for the outfield Silver Slugger Award that year.

Pham lost out to Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies and Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna of the Miami Marlins. Stanton slugged 59 home runs that year and drove in 132 runners that year while posting a massive .631 slugging percentage. Blackmon, meanwhile, hit 37 home runs while eclipsing the 100-mark in both RBIs and runs scored. His .601 OPS was also quite noteworthy.

The questionable inclusion here is Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna hit 37 home runs and drove in 124 runs, but his wRC+ trailed Pham's by six points, and he stole only one base to Pham's 25. Pham had a better on-base percentage and scored more runs than Ozuna.

The 2017 Silver Slugger voting for outfield was close, but Tommy Pham had an argument to edge out either Charlie Blackmon or Marcell Ozuna that year, and voters didn't give him the recognition he deserved.

Matt Holliday - 2013

In 2012, Matt Holliday slashed .300/.389/.490 while hitting 27 home runs and driving in 102 runners. He was exceptional offensively in the club's second year without Albert Pujols in the lineup. However, Holliday wasn't good enough to outpace outfielders Jay Bruce and Michael Cuddyer for a Silver Slugger despite being a much better hitter than the two.

Holliday had a far better batting average than Bruce, he hit more home runs than either outfielder, he drove in more runs than Cuddyer, and only Cuddyer had a better slugging percentage. Holliday's 149 wRC+ as an outfielder that year far outpaced both Cuddyer (138) and Bruce (117). Andrew McCutchen was the other Silver Slugger winner, and he was deserving of the honor.

If anything, Yasiel Puig, Jayson Worth, and Carlos Gonzalez should've received more consideration than either Jay Bruce or Michael Cuddyer, especially considering the environments that both players benefited from in Great American Ballpark and Coors Field, respectively.

Lance Berkman - 2011

Lance Berkman's offensive output in 2011 was one of the main reasons the Cardinals made the postseason that year. Berkman, in his first year with the Cardinals, slashed .315/.420/.556 that year with 26 home runs and 82 runs batted in as an outfielder. The three recipients for the Silver Slugger that year were Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp, and Justin Upton.

Ryan Braun was later busted for taking performance-enhancing drugs that year, so his numbers should be discounted now with hindsight. Matt Kemp had a fantastic year in 2011 as well, posting a .324/.400/.580 slash line as an outfielder to go along with 37 home runs and 123 RBIs. Justin Upton, however, should not have won over Berkman.

Lance Berkman had a better slash line in every category compared to Upton that year in the outfield, and his 169 wRC+ in the grass is a full 28 points higher than Upton's was that year.

Ryan Braun's Silver Slugger trophy from that year should be discounted at this point, given that he was on PEDs while playing, and Justin Upton wasn't as deserving as Berkman was from the start.