2023 Gold Glove finalists announced; Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado snubbed after winning 10 straight years
By Fabian Ardaya, Andrew Baggarly, Kaitlyn McGrath, Zack Meisel, Levi Weaver and Katie Woo
Rawlings announced the finalists for the 2023 Gold Glove Awards on Wednesday, and a familiar face was missing from this year’s list.
St. Louis Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado did not make the list despite winning a National League Gold Glove Award for 10 straight years.
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Arenado, who started his career with the Colorado Rockies, had won the award annually dating back to his rookie season in 2013 and has never had a season where he didn’t win it until now. Despite this year’s snub, Arenado remains tied with Mike Schmidt and behind only Brooks Robinson on the all-time list of third-base winners.
This year’s National League third-base finalists are the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ke’Bryan Hayes, Colorado’s Ryan McMahon and the Atlanta Braves’ Austin Riley.
Elsewhere, the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays are the two teams with the most players nominated with five each.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts was nominated for National League Gold Gloves at both the right field and utility positions, while the Houston Astros’ Mauricio Dubón was also nominated for the American League awards at second base and utility. Rawlings added a Gold Glove Award for utility players last season.
Here are your NL finalists for the 2023 @RawlingsSports Gold Glove Awards.
Winners will be announced November 5 on @ESPN.
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2023
Here are your AL finalists for the 2023 @RawlingsSports Gold Glove Awards.
Winners will be announced November 5 on @ESPN.
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2023
Why isn’t Arenado a finalist?
The fact that Arenado was not named a finalist is surprising based on his rapport around the league, but his performance this year shows why he was left off as a finalist. Nearly all of Arenado’s defensive metrics took a significant hit this year. Since Statcast began tracking Outs Above Average (OAA) as an official stat in 2016, Arenado has registered at least +10 every year with the exception of the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Last year, Arenado posted +14 OAA. This year, he recorded +5, the lowest number of his career.
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Another metric to dramatically fall was Arenado’s Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). Arenado has recorded at least 12 DRS in each year of his career with the exception of 2021 (6 DRS). He entered 2023 with 155 total DRS, the fourth-highest amount at one position within the last two decades, and fresh off a season where he registered 19 DRS, the third-highest total of his career. This year, however, Arenado shockingly recorded just one DRS.
There are reasons for Arenado’s underperformance this year. He experienced a dead-arm sensation for the majority of the first half of the season and didn’t feel like he fully regained his strength back in his throwing arm until mid-July. Arenado also experienced back spasms throughout the second half, which grew so severe that it ultimately ended his season. The Cardinals placed Arenado on the injured list with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
Though he’s still regarded as one of the top third basemen of his generation, there’s no denying Arenado’s disappointing season on both sides of the ball this year. This season also marked the first time since 2014 that he did not record at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in a full season. Now, after compiling arguably the worst defensive year of his career, the National League will crown a new king of the hot corner for the first time in a decade. — Katie Woo, Cardinals writer
Betts’ infield bet pays off
Betts already has plenty of gold hardware — six Gold Gloves, to be exact — establishing himself as the game’s preeminent right fielder. But he’s played the position less than ever in 2023, not as a byproduct of any defensive slippage but because of the extreme needs on the Dodgers’ roster. Their offseason construction created an obvious outfield platoon, and Gavin Lux’s torn ACL in spring training altered the Dodgers’ plans in the infield. So Betts, drafted as an infielder with the Boston Red Sox, volunteered to turn his brief cameos in the middle infield into a more regular thing.
The result? Betts was named a finalist for not one, but two Gold Gloves after grading out positively as a right fielder and a second baseman, with 12 starts at shortstop to boot. It perhaps should be no surprise that the Dodgers’ defense dramatically improved after the All-Star break, when the club made Betts the everyday second baseman against right-handed pitching (with Jason Heyward in right field and Miguel Rojas at shortstop, each good defenders). — Fabian Ardaya, Dodgers writer
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Blue Jays reaping the rewards of improved defense
The Blue Jays made a concerted effort to improve their defense ahead of the 2023 season after some defensive meltdowns cost them in 2022, especially in their heartbreaking Game 2 loss to the Seattle Mariners in the Wild Card Series. Their effort paid off when they fielded the best defensive lineup in the majors by a wide margin and now have five players nominated for Gold Gloves. Toronto led all teams with 83 Defensive Runs Saved. Milwaukee was second with 69 DRS.
With Daulton Varsho in left field and Kevin Kiermaier in center, the Blue Jays easily had the best defensive outfield in baseball and that surely contributed to having one of the best pitching staffs in the majors, too. If a ball could be caught, it usually was this season. In fact, no outfielder earned more DRS than Varsho’s 29 (which was split between LF and CF), while Kiermaier, even at age 33 and post-hip-surgery, looked every bit the worldly defender he’s always been.
After a bit of a down year defensively in 2022, Matt Chapman returned to form at third base in 2023, leading all AL third basemen with 12 DRS. Alejandro Kirk was exceptional behind the plate, largely due to his excellent framing. José Berríos, meanwhile, has always taken pride in his defensive skills and functions much like a shortstop on the mound. (Yusei Kikuchi would have been a worthy nominee, too, as he’s also got quick hands). — Kaitlyn McGrath, Blue Jays writer
Giants’ Patrick Bailey looking to make history
Patrick Bailey didn’t debut with the San Francisco Giants until May 19. He struggled with fatigue in September, as rookie catchers often do. But his work in between was so sublime behind the plate that he merited a place among the National League’s best defenders.
Glance at any of the modern metrics used to grade catchers and Bailey was at or near the top of the leaderboard. He led the league in catcher framing runs (16) and strike rate (52.9 percent). He became the first rookie catcher in five seasons to throw out 20 runners or more. Bailey’s pop time of 1.87 seconds was the second quickest in the major leagues, behind only Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto. His ability to deliver the ball accurately from any arm angle or throwing position allowed him to nab even the game’s elite runners, including Fernando Tatis Jr., Mookie Betts and Starling Marte.
When Bailey executed a rare walk-off pickoff on Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo to end the Giants’ 4-3 victory on August 1, Bailey’s pop time of 1.39 seconds on a play was the fastest by a catcher on a successful pickoff at first base in nine seasons for which Statcast data is available. Bailey’s aptitude and acumen also allowed him to win rapid trust from veteran pitchers and rookies alike. He ranked second in catcher’s ERA (3.69), behind only Milwaukee’s William Contreras.
Bailey might not be a favorite to win the award, but if he did, he would become the first rookie Gold Glove recipient at any position in Giants history. And he’d become the fourth Giants catcher to take the honor, joining Buster Posey, Mike Matheny and Kirt Manwaring. — Andrew Baggarly, Giants senior writer
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Can the Guardians land more hardware?
The Guardians had an American League-high four Gold Glove winners last year, and they figure to land more hardware this year. Second baseman Andrés Giménez, a 2022 winner, totaled more defensive runs saved (23) than any major leaguer not named Fernando Tatis Jr. He landed in the 99th percentile in Statcast’s fielding run value category. Though he’s a natural shortstop, and the Guardians will hold auditions for their vacant shortstop position, they remain hesitant to shift Giménez off of a position where he has become an annual award favorite.
Steven Kwan led all left fielders with 15 defensive runs saved and ranked in the 95th percentile in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric. He won the Gold Glove for his position as a rookie last season, and his metrics were a tick better in 2023. “My dad told me defense never slumps,” he said at the end of the season. “Maybe you’re having a bad day at the plate. Show up in the field to make an impact.”
José Ramírez is a finalist for the fifth time, but he has yet to claim a Gold Glove. He ranked in the 90th percentile in OAA. — Zack Meisel, Guardians writer
From defensive liability to Gold Glove finalists
When Nathaniel Lowe won the AL first base Silver Slugger last year, he openly acknowledged that he needed to improve his defense. He wasn’t wrong — per FanGraphs, his DRS was -9, and his OAA was -11. This winter, he spent time working with, among others, Francisco Lindor. The change has been stark. Lowe’s DRS this year jumped to +3, and his OAA leapt to +2. As the Rangers have continued to employ above-average defense on their postseason run, it shouldn’t be overlooked just how much Lowe has improved.
Similar to Lowe, Corey Seager has also made vast improvements on defense this year. Last year’s -4 DRS mark has improved to a +5. The biggest difference has been his range — last year, Seager struggled to cover ground, resulting in 2.2 UZR/150 — which was a marked improvement over 2020 (-17.4) and 2021 (-14.1). This year, that number is up to 5.9. — Levi Weaver, MLB writer
Required reading
(Photo of Nolan Arenado: Jeff Curry / USA Today)
