2022 Gold Glove Award announcement: What you need to know about the winners
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By Kaitlyn McGrath, Zack Meisel and Katie Woo
The 2022 Gold Glove Award winners were announced on Tuesday, honoring the best individual fielding performances at each position in the American and National Leagues. Here’s what you need to know:
In addition to every position being awarded a Gold Glove across both leagues, this year also included a utility player.
There were 14 first-time Gold Glove winners.
Eight NL teams had players win the Gold Glove while in the AL, there were five.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Four Guardians win Gold Gloves
Myles Straw, Steven Kwan, Andrés Giménez and Shane Bieber all received the honor Tuesday. It’s the first Gold Glove for each player.
The Guardians are the first AL team to claim four Gold Gloves since the 2003 Mariners. (The St. Louis Cardinals had five last season.) It’s the second time in the last 45 years that an AL team has had four Gold Glove recipients. Cleveland’s previous record was three, set in 2000 with infielders Roberto Alomar, Omar Vizquel and Travis Fryman.
Bieber is the first pitcher in team history to win the award.
Giménez led AL second basemen with 16 defensive runs saved, ranked in the 98th percentile in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric and committed only nine errors. Straw ranked in the 98th percentile in Outs Above Average. His 17 defensive runs saved were second among all center fielders. Kwan led all left fielders with 21 defensive runs saved. He totaled seven outfield assists. — Meisel
Arenado wins 10th Gold Glove
It’s Nolan Arenado’s world and we’re just living in it. In notching his tenth consecutive Gold Glove award, Arendo has now tied Mike Schmidt for the second-most Gold Gloves by a third baseman all-time. Arenado ranked first among MLB third basemen with 42 double plays (setting a Cardinals season record) and ranked second in assists (283), Defensive Runs Saved (19) and Outs Above Average (15).
The five-time Platinum Glove winner has won the award every year since his debut season in 2013. It’s rare to see this kind of dominance at any position, especially one as demanding as third base, but Arenado has ruled the hot corner for the last decade. There’s a reason the National League third baseman to win a Gold Glove that wasn’t Arenado came in 2012 when San Diego’s Chase Headley took the honors. Arenado is simply the standard. — Woo
Donovan wins Gold Glove as a utility player
Brendan Donovan impressed in all facets during his rookie campaign, but his most coveted trait was his defensive versatility. While teammate Tommy Edman was the favorite to win the first-of-its-kind award, Donovan took the definition of being a utility player literally. He played six positions for the Cardinals in 2022, including all four infield positions and both corner outfield spots. Of those positions, Donovan spent the majority of time either at second base (264 1/3 innings played) or in the outfield (287 innings played) and did not commit an error at either position. He committed just seven errors across 854.1 innings.
In addition to becoming the first-ever recipient of the National League utility Gold Glove, Donovan became the first Cardinal rookie to win a Gold Glove at any position in franchise history and the first National League player to do so since Arenado in 2013. — Woo
Guerrero Jr. wins first Gold Glove
When Vladimir Guerrero Jr. first moved to first base before the 2020 season, there were people within the Blue Jays organization who believed he could one day win a Gold Glove award. Now, after his third season playing the position full-time, he claimed the prestigious defensive award. Guerrero becomes the only Blue Jays first baseman in franchise history to win a Gold Glove.
The 23-year-old came up through the Blue Jays minor-league system as a third baseman and made his MLB debut there in 2019. But, he had a tough time defensively during his rookie year at the hot corner, committing 17 errors. The Blue Jays intended to give him more runway at third base, but when his physical conditioning wasn’t where it needed to be when he arrived for summer camp before the shortened 2020 season, he was moved to first base. There was a steep learning curve for Guerrero at first, but he embraced the position and dedicated himself to becoming an elite defender there. In three short seasons, he’s gone from a player learning the position on the fly to a first baseman who routinely drops into the splits and picks balls out of the dirt with aplomb. Since 2020, Guerrero has gone from being worth minus-4 Defensive Runs Saves to plus-3 this season, per FanGraphs.
While Guerrero’s 2022 season at the plate was very good, it didn’t quite match up to his near-MVP 2021 performance. But capping the year off with his first career Gold Glove is a nod to his skill on both sides of the ball and a reminder that, at 23, he possesses the talent potential to be the best first baseman in baseball. — McGrath
Full list of Gold Glove winners
National League
C: J.T. Realmuto (Phillies)
1B: Christian Walker (Diamondbacks)
2B: Brendan Rodgers (Rockies)
SS: Dansby Swanson (Braves)
3B: Nolan Arenado (Cardinals)
LF: Ian Happ (Cubs)
CF: Trent Grisham (Padres)
RF: Mookie Betts (Dodgers)
P: Max Fried (Braves)
Utility: Brendan Donovan (Cardinals)
American League
C: Jose Trevino (Yankees)
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays)
2B: Andrés Giménez (Guardians)
SS: Jeremy Peña (Astros)
3B: Ramón Urías (Orioles)
LF: Steven Kwan (Guardians)
CF: Myles Straw (Guardians)
RF: Kyle Tucker (Astros)
P: Shane Bieber (Guardians)
Utility: DJ LeMahieu (Yankees)
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