When MLB announced its Gold Glove Award finalists on Tuesday, most were names you would expect. Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson — and then there was an interesting finalist, New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto.
Rating Soto, one of the best hitters in the game, as one of the three best defensive right fielders in the American League this season doesn’t seem to line up with the defensive statistics. He finished with minus-1 defensive runs saved (DRS) and minus-5 outs above average (OAA) in right field, according to FanGraphs. Fellow finalists Wilyer Abreu and Jo Adell posted positive figures in those same categories: Abreu with 18 DRS and 7 OAA, and Adell with 6 DRS and 1 OAA.
But Soto is a contender again, according to MLB and its 75-25 formula — votes by all 30 managers and as many as six coaches from each team make up 75 percent of the selection process with the SABR defensive index accounting for the leftover 25 percent. Soto was a finalist once before in right field, in 2022, when he lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts.
Your 2024 AL @RawlingsSports Gold Glove Award Finalists are here! 🤩
Who will take home the gold? pic.twitter.com/EuUxejcaEu
— MLB (@MLB) October 15, 2024
In the middle infield, second baseman Nicky Lopez made the cut for the Chicago White Sox, the worst team in modern baseball history and one of the worst defensive teams in recent memory. Baseball Savant ranked Lopez, a second-time Gold Glove finalist, in the 74th percentile in fielding run value and the 88th percentile in outs above average with minus-0.5 defensive WAR, minus-1 DRS at second and minus-9 DRS at shortstop.
And he still probably pulled up the mean values for the White Sox, who finished with the fewest defensive runs above average (Def) on FanGraphs since 2017: minus-47.1. The Oakland A’s, with minus-37.7, were the only other team with a Def value below minus-30.
Presenting your 2024 NL @RawlingsSports Gold Glove Award Finalists 🌟 pic.twitter.com/hi1Wzg5dLE
— MLB (@MLB) October 15, 2024
Behind the plate, five-time Gold Glove-winning catcher Salvador Perez saw his backup, Freddy Fermin, slot in as a finalist for the first time in his young career. Fermin, in his third season with the Kansas City Royals, accumulated 16 DRS, which tied Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh — also a first-time finalist — for the AL lead.
Among the group of Fermin, Raleigh and the Detroit Tigers’ Jake Rogers, the AL will crown yet another first-time winner of the Gold Glove Award at that premium position. Such parity has been quite a change of pace after only three different catchers — Perez, Martín Maldonado and Roberto Pérez — took home the award in the AL from 2013-20.
(Photo of Soto: Mike Stobe / Getty Images)
