Brisbane Bandits Silver Slugger Award goes to Josh Roberts

The end of the Australian Baseball League season means the beginning of awards season, and the first of many honours has been handed out. Josh Roberts is the Brisbane Bandits winner of the SAM BAT Silver Slugger Award, given to the best overall offensive contributor from an individual player.

Roberts led the team with a .308 average, seven home runs and tied for the lead in RBI with 31, making him the Triple Crown winner for the Bandits. He followed up his Most Valuable Player performance for Brisbane in the ABL’s inaugural season with another extremely noteworthy year. 

The right fielder ranked among the league leaders with his average and RBI total, as well as in doubles (15), extra-base hits (23) and total bases (94).

After putting on an outstanding show last year for Bandits fans, and continuing on the same path right from the beginning of the most recent season, the 25-year-old was an obvious choice for the ABL’s first All-Star Game, which took place in Perth in December. Roberts was the MVP of Team Australia, after going 2-for-4 with a home run and an outfield assist in the game.

While Roberts’ bat was potent all year long, the outfielder was even more dangerous at home. At the RNA Showgrounds, the Ipswich native batted .326/.347/.517 with four home runs, five doubles and 16 runs driven in, through 22 games.

From the left side of the plate, the slugger had a better average against southpaw pitchers, hitting .321, but his power came through against righties, with five home runs and 11 doubles, though he did notch more plate appearances against right-handed pitching.

Other team winners of the SAM BAT Silver Slugger Award include Denny Almonte of Adelaide, Brian Burgamy of Canberra, Brad Harman of Melbourne, Tim Kennelly of Perth and Brandon Barnes of Sydney.