Who are the 2023 MLB Roberto Clemente Award nominees?
The Puerto Rican star’s legacy continues to inspire excellence on the field, and humility and charity off of it. There was nobody like Roberto Clemente.
It’s hard to consider the life and career of the former Pirates star without feeling a sense of frustration that it was tragically cut short. Yet, such is the way with those who burn brightest. Nonetheless, his legacy continues to remind those who follow that it’s one thing to achieve excellence, but it’s another to help your community do the same.
What is the Roberto Clemente award?
Widely regarded as the most prestigious individual award available in baseball, the Roberto Clemente Award serves to recognize the MLB player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions, both on and off the field. What that means is someone who is always looking to help those around them. Now that you know, it’s time to have a look at the list of nominees, which the league recently announced. It’s also worth noting that they will all be recognized in ballparks beginning on Friday, Sept. 15.
Who are the Roberto Clemente Award nominees?
There are few players in baseball history who illicit such emotions as Roberto Clemente. Indeed, that’s precisely why the annual award that MLB offers in honor of the humanitarian legacy of the Hall of Famer is held in such high esteem. As you can imagine, fans have been waiting to know who the nominees for this year’s edition are, and with that, the league has finally answered. If you didn’t know, Roberto Clemente Day is one of the key dates on MLB’s calendar as it celebrates the Roberto Clemente Award, which is baseball’s most highly regarded individual honor.
There are of course 30 club nominees who will be considered for the award on the basis of their philanthropic and humanitarian activities. On that note, you might be interested to know that there are 16 first-time honorees this year. Please note that first-time nominees are marked with an *
2023 Roberto Clemente Award nominees
- Arizona Diamondbacks – Nick Ahmed*
- Atlanta Braves – Matt Olson*
- Baltimore Orioles – Kyle Gibson
- Boston Red Sox – Tanner Houck*
- Chicago Cubs – Marcus Stroman
- Chicago White Sox – Liam Hendriks
- Cincinnati Reds – Hunter Greene*
- Cleveland Guardians – José Ramirez*
- Colorado Rockies – Kyle Freeland
- Detroit Tigers – Miguel Cabrera
- Houston Astros – Jeremy Peña*
- Kansas City Royals – Salvador Perez
- Los Angeles Angels – Mike Trout
- Los Angeles Dodgers – Chris Taylor*
- Miami Marlins – Jorge Soler*
- Milwaukee Brewers – Christian Yelich
- Minnesota Twins – Carlos Correa*
- New York Mets – Francisco Lindor*
- New York Yankees – Aaron Judge*
- Oakland Athletics – Tony Kemp
- Philadelphia Phillies – Kyle Schwarber
- Pittsburgh Pirates – David Bednar
- San Diego Padres – Tim Hill*
- San Francisco Giants – Brandon Crawford
- Seattle Mariners – Marco Gonzales
- St. Louis Cardinals – Paul Goldschmidt
- Tampa Bay Rays – Shane McClanahan*
- Texas Rangers – Jon Gray*
- Toronto Blue Jays – Vladimir Guerrero Jr.*
- Washington Nationals – Josiah Gray*.
- MLB presses the point
The Roger Clemente Award is a good thing
While plaudits must be given to players and the off-field work that they do - nominee or not - it’s also got to be said that the league itself pushes them to be more aware of their surrounding communities. All teams in the MLB are asked to nominate one player to be considered for the league-wide Award in tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character. The list consists of players whose various community and philanthropic activities have focused on important causes such as supporting underserved children & communities in the United States, as well as around the world, supporting those with cancer and other illnesses, supporting educational programs, environmental advocacy, and much more. This is all to say that the criteria that have to be met to even be considered for the award is based on putting your money where your mouth is.