Pitchers who rake was a popular phrase around the baseball when the National League still allowed pitchers to hit. The universal DH came into existence in 2022 and as a result, the NL Silver Slugger award for pitchers died with it's arrival. Pitchers who won the NL Silver Slugger are remembered as some of the most impressive hitters during the 40 year history of the award. Names like: Zack Greinke, Mike Hampton, Madison Bumgarner, and Carlos Zambrano all took the award home on multiple occasions.
Now, when you see the 2025 Silver Slugger Awards announced exclusively on FanSided, you won't hear any pitchers' names called unless something truly wild has happened. However, no individual TEAM secured the award when it existed quite like the Atlanta Braves did. Thanks to the dual-athletes the Braves had on the mound they were able to win seven Silver Slugger awards for pitchers, the most in National League history. Here we'll take a look at each winner, and evaluate what made their season Silver Slugger worthy.
Braves pitchers dominated the NL Silver Slugger award while it lasted
The final Silver Slugger ever handed out to a pitcher (not counting Ohtani of course) came in 2021, when Atlanta's own Max Fried won the award. Fried was always one of the best hitting pitchers in the league, and that season his .273 batting average was enough to win the award. Fried also delivered one of the most memorable walk-offs that season when his pinch-hit single won the game for Atlanta on the Fourth of July.
MAX FRIED WALKS IT OFF. pic.twitter.com/UcxO6wx0An
— Braves On FanDuel Sports Network (@FanDuelSNBraves) July 4, 2021
Before Fried, the Braves had not won a Silver Slugger at pitcher since Mike Hampton did it in 2003. Hampton is often referred to as one of (if not THE) best hitting pitchers of all-time. Hampton's final Silver Slugger of his career came in 2003 with Atlanta. Hampton won five straight Silver Sluggers from 1999-2003 with four different teams.
John Smoltz's career saw him take home just about every accolade there was to earn in baseball. During the 1997 season, it was Smoltz's bat that earned him his lone Silver Slugger award. Smoltz led the NL in innings pitcher in 1997; additionally, his .307 on-base percentage was enough to earn him the Silver Slugger for pitchers that year.
The most prolific, and awarded, hitting pitcher in Atlanta Braves history is Hall of Famer Tom Glavine. The crafty lefty won four silver slugger awards during his career, and was known as one of the best bunters of his era. Although Glavine has just one career homer, his ability to handle the bat made him a repeated winner of the NL Silver Slugger award for pitchers. Glavine won all of his Silver Sluggers during the Braves' run in the 90's with his first coming in the magical 1991 season, and his final coming in 1998.
Glavine, Maddux, and Smoltz were so competitive that their hitting performances impacted how they self-evaluated. That competition helped Atlanta keep a chokehold on the NL Silver Slugger award for pitchers for most of the 90's. The Silver Slugger award for pitcher may be dead and gone, but it's legacy centers around the great hitting pitchers that wore an Atlanta Braves jersey.