The Rawlings Gold Glove awards were handed out Sunday night during an ESPN 2 broadcast. The Arizona Diamondbacks had four award winners, including a player no longer on the team. The Oakland Athletics had two winners, and two players won their seventh Gold Gloves, respectively.
American League
The award winner for the AL pitcher goes to Mike Leake. This is interesting because Leake played half of the season in the AL and half in the NL. Leake began the season with the Seattle Mariners before being traded at the deadline to the Diamondbacks.
The award for catcher was won by Roberto Perez of the Cleveland Indians. Perez replaced Yan Gomes, and he did not allow a single passed ball all season. Additionally, he will be a good candidate for the Platinum Glove award.
The Gold Glove at first base belongs Matt Olson of the Oakland Athletics. Second Base is Yolmer Sanchez of the Chicago White Sox. This is his first Gold Glove award. Third Base is Matt Chapman, also a member of the Athletics. Chapman was last year’s Platinum Award winner in the American League. The shortstop winner for the AL is Indians Francisco Lindor, his second Gold Glove.
Gold Gloves were handed out to left fielder Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals. The award is his seventh. Center field was won by Kevin Kiermaier of the Tampa Bay Rays, and the right field award winner is Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox.
National League
The winner for the National League pitcher is Zack Greinke. Like Leake, Greine also played half of a season in both the AL and NL. Greinke was the big-name-trade at the deadline, and he went from the Diamondbacks to the Houston Astros for four prospects. The Gold Glove for catcher went to J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The first base award went to Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs. Meanwhile, second base was handed to Kolten Wong of the St. Louis Cardinals, his first Gold Glove. The Gold Glove for NL third base went to Nolan Arenado. The award is his seventh straight. He was the Platinum Award winner last year, and is a front-runner for the same honor this year. The winner at shortstop is Nick Ahmed, winning for the second straight year.
All three outfield award winners are collecting the awards for the first time. Left field went to David Peralta, another Diamondback. Peralta is the final of the four Diamondbacks on the list. Center field was won by Lorenzo Cain of the Milwaukee Brewers. Cain continues to play top-tier defense year after year, and is finally being recognized for his efforts. Right field went to Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is also in contention to win the NL MVP award later this month.
Platinum Glove Award Winners
The Platinum Glove award winner is the best of the players that received a Gold Glove award from each League, and will be decided by the fan vote before being announced on Friday, November 8th. Fans may vote by going to the Rawlings website and voting for one player from each league.
Votes may be cast each day here through November 7th, and all Gold Glove winners are eligible for the award. Nolan Arenado and Matt Chapman won the award in their respective leagues in 2018.
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