Crowded NL Silver Slugger outfield picture leaves one deserving Brewer empty handed

2025 was a season of great triumph for the Milwaukee Brewers, up until their unceremonious playoff exit following a four-game sweep at the hands of the West Coast Evil Empire, also known as the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the National League Championship Series. Prior to their disappointing performance in the NLCS, the Brewers' offense, despite not conforming to an ever-changing offensive strategy in MLB, was one of the best in baseball, as evidenced by the 806 runs they scored this past season -- second most in the NL.

Though the Brewers’ strategy for scoring runs was far more team-based than their contending NL counterparts, several individual performances stuck out among the group. Three of these performances were rewarded with nominations for the NL's 2025 Silver Slugger Awards, as revealed by Reviewing the Brew's parent company, FanSided, earlier today. FanSided partnered with Louisville Slugger this year to exclusively reveal the finalists and winners for this year's Silver Slugger Awards. The AL finalists will be revealed on FanSided.com tomorrow morning, and the winners for the NL and AL will be named on FanSided's "The Baseball Insiders" podcast and YouTube show at 6:00 p.m. EST on November 6 and 7, respectively.

FanSided Exclusive: Unveiling the 2025 NL Silver Slugger Award finalists

Today's announcement revealed that Brice Turang (2B), William Contreras (C), and Christian Yelich (DH) have been named finalists for this year's awards after their impressive performances at the plate during the 2025 regular season. However, one Brewer was notably left off of the list of finalists, but his absence has more to do with the crowded group of players that he is competing with at his position, and less with the difference in his performance from a season ago.

Jackson Chourio left off of NL's list of Silver Slugger finalists after key additions to the league's outfield group last offseason

A season ago, rookie Jackson Chourio was named a finalist for the NL outfield's three Silver Slugger Awards. Rather than name a Silver Slugger for each individual outfield position, Louisville Slugger awards three Silver Sluggers to each league's outfield group as a whole, meaning three center fielders could take home the award in any given year.

In 2024, Chourio joined the San Diego Padres' Jackson Merrill and Jurickson Profar, the Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki, and the Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández as a finalist for the NL Silver Slugger Award at the outfield position. Chourio, despite his 21 HR, 54 total extra-base hits, and 79 RBI, ended up losing to Hernández, Profar, and Merrill -- who also beat him out for the NL's Rookie of the Year Award in 2024 -- but his nomination for the award at just 20 years old was nevertheless impressive.

This season, Chourio had a virtually identical season at the plate. He once again slugged 21 HR, he collected 78 RBI, and after stirking out 121 times in 2024, he struck out 121 times in 2025. The major difference in his offensive performance this season was that he crushed six more doubles than he did in 2024, but sacrificed his on-base percentage, which dropped by almost 20 points this year. Therefore, one would be forgiven for assuming that Chourio's name would once again be among the outfield finalists for the NL Silver Slugger Award in 2025.

However, some notable names joined the National League during the offseason, making Chourio's path to a Silver Slugger Award far more challenging. After a season in the American League with the New York Yankees in 2024, outfielder Juan Soto rejoined the National League, where he spent the first six years of his MLB career, after signing a record-breaking contract with the New York Mets last offseason. Additionally, the Chicago Cubs made a blockbuster acquisition of Houston Astros' outfielder Kyle Tucker last offseason, adding even more talent to the NL outfield group.

Both Soto and Tucker are finalists for a Silver Slugger Award this season while Chourio, and his teammate Sal Frelick, who also had a decent argument to be a finalist, are on the outside looking in. Joining Tucker and Soto as finalists are Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs, Kyle Stowers of the Miami Marlins, and James Wood of the Washington Nationals, all of whom are certainly deserving of the honor. Even still, it's tough to stomach the idea that both Chourio and Frelick were likely near misses when it comes to the 2025 finalists for the NL outfield's Silver Slugger Awards.