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Five Blue Jays Are Rawlings Gold Glove Finalists

2022 Gold Glove

Rawlings announced its 2022 Gold Glove finalists on Thursday afternoon. Five Toronto Blue Jays are among the nominees. José Berríos, Jackie Bradley Jr., Matt Chapman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Whit Merrifield finished in the top three at their respective positions. Each will learn on November 1 whether or not they won the award. 

The selection criteria for the Rawlings Gold Glove award consist of different factors. There’s a combination of the SABR Defensive Index (25%) and a vote of managers and coaches (75%). The metric component of the Index, SABR uses Defensive Runs Saved. Each team gets seven votes for the awards in each league- the manager plays six coaches. In addition, there are 10 awards- one per defensive position, plus a utility player like Merrifield for the first time. No one can vote for a player from their own team.

2022 Gold Glove Finalists from the Toronto Blue Jays

José Berríos, Pitcher

José Berríos earned consecutive nominations after playing in 32 games. He posted a record of 12-7 with a 5.23 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 172 innings pitched. He had six putouts, 16 assists, one error and one double play. His Rdrs was one in the season. Berrios is up against Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Guardians and Jameson Taillon of the New York Yankees. Bieber went 13-8 with a 2.88 ERA and 198 strikeouts in 200 innings. He had eight putouts, 18 assists, one error, and two double plays with 15 putouts, 16 assists, an error and a double play as his Rdrs was two. Taillon was 14-5 with a 3.91 ERA with 151 strikeouts in 171 1/3 innings. He finished the season with two Rdrs.

 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., First Base

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. earned the first Gold Glove nomination of his career. The two-time All-Star is up against Anthony Rizzo of the Yankees and Luis Arraez of the Minnesota Twins. In 1121 innings across 128 games, Guerrero Jr. had 969 putouts, 47 assists, 10 errors, and 80 double plays. He had a -2 Total Zone Runs Above Average (Rtot), meaning his range and arm combined to allow two runs more than the average AL first baseman. In Defensive Runs Saved (Rdrs), which takes the difficulty of plays into consideration, Guerrero Jr. had a 3 Rdrs.

Rizzo had 919 putouts, 72 assists, five errors, 71 double plays, -10 Rtot, and -3 Rdrs (fourth-worst among AL first baseman) in 1034 innings. Arraez had 437 putouts, 20 assists, one error, 42 double plays, five Rtot, and four Rdrs in 529 innings.

Matt Chapman, Third Base

Matt Chapman will be up for his fourth Gold Glove Award in six seasons. He’s a two-time winner of the Platinum Gold Glove Award, given to the best defender at any position. In 149 games, Chapman made 164 putouts while adding 263 assists, five errors, 41 double plays, -6 Rtot, and two Rdrs across 1344 1/3 innings. The other two finalists had respectable defensive seasons of their own. Ramón Urías of the Baltimore Orioles had 54 putouts, 197 assists, eight errors, and 25 double plays. This made for 12 Rtot and 14 Rdris in 769 1/3 innings across 74 games. José Ramírez, who helped the Cleveland Guardians win the AL Central, had 91 putouts, 234 assists, 10 errors and 27 double plays. Had had one Rtot and two Rdrs in 1109 2/3 innings across 114 games.

Jackie Bradley Jr., Right Field

Jackie Bradley Jr. joined the Blue Jays midway through the season as he’s up his second Gold Glove at right field. The 32-year-old posted a perfect fielding percentage during his time with the Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox. He played 614 1/3 innings across 53 games, accumulating 145 putouts, six assists, two double plays and zero errors. His Rtot is eight whereas his Rdrs is 10.

The other two finalists are Max Kepler of the Minnesota Twins and Kyle Tucker of the Houston Astros. Kepler is a finalist despite playing 90 games in right field. In 889 1/3 innings, Kepler had 222 putouts, five assists, two errors, and one double play. This gave him a 12 Rtot and 8 Rdrs. As for Tucker, he played in 1276 1/3 innings across 139 games. He made 287 putouts, eight assists, three errors and one double play. His 11 Rtot and 13 Rdrs are the highest among the three finalists.

Whit Merrifield, Utility 

Whit Merrifield spent his entire career with the Kansas City Royals. He was traded to Toronto in August as his ability to play multiple positions made him a finalist for the utility position. The two-time All-Star split time playing eight innings at first, 643 1/3 innings at second, 26 1/3 innings in left, 120 innings in center, and 287 innings in right. Merrifield had 246 putouts, 185 assists, four errors, and 47 double plays. His Rtot was -5 with -7 Rdrs.

The other two finalists were DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees and Luis Rengifo of the Los Angeles Angels. LeMahieu played over 960 innings in 2022- 385 2/3 innings at third, 312 2/3 innings at second, and 265 innings at first. He had 306 putouts, 210 assists, four errors, and 54 double plays. This gave him 15 Rtot and nine Rdrs. Rengifo played six positions in over 400 games- 693 innings at second, 250 2/3 innings at third, 99 innings at shortstop, and 15 innings in the outfield. He had 180 putouts, 265 assists, 15 errors, and 76 double plays. This added up to 11 Rtot and two Rdrs for the season.

The 2022 Gold Glove Awards Show

The Gold Glove finalists will learn their ultimate fate during a special one-hour Baseball Tonight on ESPN Tuesday, November 1, at 5 pm Eastern time. According to Rawlings, the show will air on-field before Game Four of the World Series, hosted by the National League pennant winner.

Main Photo:

Embed from Getty Images

Players Mentioned:

José Berríos, Jackie Bradley Jr., Matt Chapman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Whit Merrifield , Shane Bieber, Jameson Taillon,Ramón Urías,José Ramírez, Max Kepler, Kyle Tucker, DJ LeMahieu, Luis Rengifo

 

 

 

Matt Graves, Site Manager

Matt Graves, Site Manager

Matt Graves is an experienced baseball writer, and co-manager of LWOS Baseball. He is a graduate of the Radio Broadcasting program at Fanshawe College who has worked as a writer in radio, journalism, and digital media.

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