Major League Baseball announced the nominees for the 2021 Roberto Clemente Award Tuesday. The award is given to the player who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”
The Atlanta Braves’ nominee for the 2021 season is reliever Will Smith. Earlier this season, Smith put together a fundraiser to support disaster relief in his hometown of Newnan which was hit hard by tornadoes in March. Newnan High School’s baseball field and locker room was damaged in the storm and the Braves hosted the team’s “Senior Night” at Truist Park on April 21. Smith has also served at a local animal shelter and has helped with homeless pet adoptions since joining the team in 2019.
“It is an honor to be named the Braves’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award,” said Braves pitcher Will Smith. “I’m humbled to be associated with such great nominees from across the league, and proud of the work my teammates and players around Major League Baseball have done to better their communities.”
Each team selects their nominee during the regular season and then a panel decides the winner which will be announced during the 2021 World Series.
Past Braves to win the award were Phil Niekro (1980), Dale Murphy (1988) and John Smoltz (2005).
Below is a list of the nominees for each league:
National League
Arizona - David Peralta
Atlanta - Will Smith
Chicago - Jason Heyward
Cincinnati - Joey Votto
Colorado - Ian Desmond
Los Angeles - Justin Turner
Miami - Miguel Rojas
Milwaukee - Brent Suter
New York - Pete Alonso
Philadelphia - Alec Bohm
Pittsburgh - Jacob Stallings
San Diego - Joe Musgrove
San Francisco - Brandon Crawford
St. Louis - Paul Goldschmidt
Washington - Max Scherzer
American League
Baltimore - Trey Mancini
Boston - Nathan Eovaldi
Chicago - Liam Hendriks
Cleveland - Aaron Civil
Detroit - Miguel Cabrera
Houston - Alex Bregman
Kansas City - Salvador Perez
Los Angeles - Mike Trout
Minnesota - Nelson Cruz
New York - Kyle Higashioka
Oakland - Tony Kemp
Seattle - Kyle Seager
Tampa Bay - Ryan Yarbrough
Texas - Jose Trevino
Toronto - Bo Bichette