Christian Walker Wins 2022 Gold Glove Award
Rawlings announced its 2022 Gold Glove winners Tuesday afternoon, with Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker earning his first career award.
The selection criteria for the Rawlings Gold Glove award consists of a combination of the SABR Defensive Index (25%) and a vote of managers and coaches (75%). For the metric component of the Index, SABR uses the SABR Defense Index (SDI), an amalgam of defensive metrics that includes Defensive Runs Saved. Each team gets seven votes for the awards in their respective leagues — the manager plus six coaches. There are 10 awards — one per defensive position plus, for the first time, a utility player. No one may vote for a player from his own team.
In addition to Walker, the Diamondbacks had three other finalists across four positions: the departed David Peralta in left field, rookie Alek Thomas in center field, Daulton Varsho both in right field and as the utility player. None of the others won, with Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs taking the honors in left, Trent Grisham of the San Diego Padres winning in center, Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers winning in right, and Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals winning the first-ever utility Gold Glove.
Gold Glove Season of Christian Walker
Christian Walker had a defensive season for the ages. He had 18 Total Zone Runs Above Average (Rtot on Baseball Reference), meaning that — based on play-by-play data — by having Walker play first base instead of the average defensive first baseman in the National League, the Diamondbacks allowed 18 fewer runs. The second-place finisher among those with enough defensive innings — Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves, a fellow finalist — had five. In Defensive Runs Saved (Rdrs on Baseball Reference), which works on the same premise as Rtot but uses batted ball data to factor in degree of difficulty, Walker had 17. Olson, runner-up here as well, had five. Walker also led the league in SDI with 12.2, more than six times higher than runner-up Olson (1.9).
Walker’s Rtot was more than twice as high as the 2021 leader, Max Muncy of the Dodgers (8). His Rdrs was eight higher than the 2021 leader, Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals (9). He also led the league in Rtot and Rdrs in 2019, with eleven and nine, respectively. In addition, his Rtot was the highest by any NL first baseman since 2007. That year, Albert Pujols — then of the Cardinals — had 26, still the highest ever recorded in either league. In Rdrs, Walker recorded the highest total since 2017, when Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds had 18.
Platinum Glove
After the Gold Glove Award Ceremony on Friday, November 11, one player from each league will receive the Platinum Glove Award, given annually to the best overall defender in each league. A portion of the award tally will come from a fan vote. Fans can vote here, once per day. By voting, they can be entered to win various prizes. The award began in 2011. Third baseman Nolan Arenado, who started his career with the Colorado Rockies but now plays for the Cardinals, has won each of the last five for the NL. Shortstop Carlos Correa, then of the Houston Astros but who played with the Minnesota Twins in 2022, won the AL award in 2021.
Full List of 2022 Rawlings Gold Glove Winners
Minimum of 698 total defensive innings through his team’s 138th game, or, if he was traded before the 138th game, 7 1/2 innings in 67% of his team’s games prior to being traded. For pitchers, minimum 138 innings by his team’s 138th game. Place listed is among qualifying players.
National League
| Pos | Player | Team | No. | Rtot | Rdrs | SDI |
| P | Max Fried | ATL | 3rd | — | 3 (3rd) | 2.6 (3rd) |
| C | J.T. Realmuto | PHI | 2nd | 13 (1st) | 11 (1st) | 9.2 (1st) |
| 1B | Christian Walker | ARI | 1st | 18 (1st) | 17 (1st) | 12.2 (1st) |
| 2B | Brendan Rogers | COL | 1st | 15 (1st) | 22 (1st) | 12.5 (1st) |
| SS | Dansby Swanson | ATL | 1st | 10 (2nd–tie) | 9 (4th–tie) | 7.7 (3rd) |
| 3B | Nolan Arenado | STL | 10th | 15 (1st) | 19 (2nd) | 13.3 (2nd) |
| LF | Ian Happ | CHC | 1st | 2 (2nd) | 13 (1st) | 7.2 (1st) |
| CF | Trent Grisham | SDP | 2nd | 16 (1st) | 8 (2nd) | 9.3 (1st) |
| RF | Mookie Betts | LAD | 6th | 31 (1st) | 15 (1st) | 13.8 (1st) |
| Utility | Brendan Donovan | STL | 1st | 6 (all pos.) | 9 (all pos.) | 4.9 (at 3B) |
American League
| Pos | Player | Team | No. | Rtot | Rdrs | SDI |
| P | Shane Bieber | CLE | 1st | — | 3 (1st) | 1.9 (1st) |
| C | Jose Trevino | NYY | 1st | 7 (1st) | 21 (1st) | 13.4 (1st) |
| 1B | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | TOR | 1st | –2 (5th) | 3 (3rd–tie) | 0.2 (5th) |
| 2B | Andrés Giménez | CLE | 1st | 8 (1st) | 16 (1st) | 9.9 (1st) |
| SS | Jeremy Peña | HOU | 1st | 8 (2nd) | 15 (1st) | 8.1 (1st) |
| 3B | Ramón Urías | BAL | 1st | 12 (1st) | 14 (1st) | 10.2 (1st) |
| LF | Steven Kwan | CLE | 1st | 20 (1st) | 21 (1st) | 12.9 (1st) |
| CF | Myles Straw | CLE | 1st | 13 (1st–tie) | 17 (2nd) | 12.8 (1st) |
| RF | Kyle Tucker | HOU | 1st | 11 (2nd) | 13 (1st) | 7.1 (1st) |
| Utility | DJ LeMahieu | NYY | 4th | 15 (2nd, all pos.) | 9 (18th, all pos.) | 5.7 (at 3B) |
(Note: There is no Rtot data for pitchers. Utility players’ Rtot and Rdrs are for all positions combined. Their SDI is for whatever position SABR had them listed.)
See also: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Wins First Gold Glove Award
Main Photo:
Players mentioned:
Christian Walker, David Peralta, Alek Thomas, Daulton Varsho, Ian Happ, Trent Grisham, Mookie Betts, Brendan Donovan, Matt Olson, Max Muncy, Paul Goldschmidt, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Max Fried, J.T. Realmuto, Dansby Swanson, Nolan Arenado, Carlos Correa, Shane Bieber, Jose Trevino, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Andrés Giménez, Jeremy Peña, Ramón Urías, Steven Kwan, Myles Straw, Kyle Tucker, DJ LeMahieu
