Mookie Betts & Trent Grisham Win Gold Gloves | Marcus Semien, J.P. Crawford, CM Storm Snubbed For New Jacks

Mookie Betts & Trent Grisham Win Gold Gloves | Marcus Semien, J.P. Crawford, CM Storm Snubbed For New Jacks

by | Nov 7, 2022 | THE THREE SPOT

MLBbro webmaster extraordinaire Mookie Betts won the Rawlings National League Gold Glove Award in right field for the sixth time in his illustrious career. This is Betts’ second Gold Glove award in his three seasons with the Dodgers, becoming the fourth outfielder in franchise history to win multiple Gold Gloves, joining Willie Davis (3), Raul Mondesi (2) and Matt Kemp (2).

 

Mookie See, Mookie Do 

After an injury-riddled 2021 broke Betts’ streak of consecutive Gold Glove Awards at five, the former MVP returned with an athletic vengeance in 2022. Betts committed just two errors over 1,154 1/3 innings in right field.

 

 

 

Per Baseball Savant, Betts led all NL right fielders with five Outs Above Average. Per FanGraphs, Betts also graded out as the best right fielder, leading the Majors with 15 Defensive Runs Saved.

This accomplishment is par for the course for a player of Mookie’s stature and he’s sure to have a bunch more before he’s done. Betts’ glove is so versatile that he could win a Gold Glove on the infield. He’s already displayed his prowess at second base in 2021, when he was nursing injuries.

 

Trent Grisham’s Glove Keeps His Butt..Er…Bat On The Field 

Trent Grisham has already won his second Gold Glove in four MLB season. His first came in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The Gold Glove is determined by combining a vote of coaches and managers and metrics developed by the Society for American Baseball Research called the SABR Defensive Index.

 

As of Aug. 28, the last time the SDI was made public, Grisham ranked second behind Washington’s Victor Robles. Grisham led NL center fielders in outs above average (17) and was second with eight defensive runs saved. The 25-year-old, who batted below the Mendoza line this season, but showed power with 17 homers, has a bright future ahead of him in San Diego. It’s clear that his web work is still ahead of his bat, but Grisham has all the tools and a bit of time to bring it altogether.

J.P. Crawford Robbed Of Third Straight Gold Glove 

The American League unfortunately didn’t have any MLBbro Gold Glove winners despite having supreme fielders and worthy candidates such as Michael A Taylor, Byron Buxton, Cedric Mullins and 2020 and 2021 Gold Glove winner JP Crawford. It’s got to be rough on Crawford to win back-to-back Gold Gloves, establish yourself as the premier defensive shortstop in the game and then get your title taken from you by a rookie. In fact, MLB didn’t even make the new jack earn his stripes as Peña becomes the first rookie shortstop in history to win a Gold Glove, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. This selection is even more surprising when you see that Pena had the third most errors in all of baseball. The 25-year-old is good, but we have to stop with the prisoner of the moment hype.

 

Marcus Semien Jerked On Second Consecutive Gold Glove 

An argument can also be made for Marcus Semien at second base. The 2021 AL Gold Glove winner led the AL in assists with 441 this season. Definitely don’t see how anyone in the AL is better than the former shortstop at second base. Winner Brendan Rodgers is definitely a web master and had 10 more double plays turned than Semien, but also had double digit errors (10) good for third-highest among second baseman. Semien had just seven errors in 148 games at second base. He also started 13 games at shortstop, showing his versatility as a fielder.

Myles Straw over 2021 Gold Glove Winner Cedric “CM Storm” Mullins seems like a bit of a stretch as well.

MLBbro Ke’Bryan Hayes Is A National League Gold Glove Finalist At Third Base | Flashing Leather Is What He Does

MLBbro Ke’Bryan Hayes Is A National League Gold Glove Finalist At Third Base | Flashing Leather Is What He Does

by | Oct 24, 2022 | THE LEAD OFF

By Ethan Sands 

The MLB Gold Glove nominations were announced on Thursday.

Ke’Bryan Hayes would become the first Pirates third baseman to receive a Gold Glove if his name is called on Nov. 1 during ESPN’s Baseball Tonight before the start of Game 4 of the World Series.

In just his third professional season, the Pirates’ third baseman joins nine-time Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado and Colorado’s Ryan McMahon as the final candidates for the best third baseman in the NL.

Ke’Bryan Hayes, The Hot Corner Heavy Hitter

If instead Arenado wins his 10th Gold Glove, he’d tie Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt for the second-highest total at the hot corner, behind only Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson’s 16.

The 25-year-old Hayes led all players in Defensive Runs Saved (24) and all third basemen in Outs Above Average (18). Arenado was second in OAA (15).

This wouldn’t be the first Gold Glove of Hayes’ professional career, as he won three in the Minors since being drafted with the 32nd overall pick in 2015. But in his first full season with Pittsburgh in 2021, he didn’t meet the Rawlings qualification of playing in 713 innings by the Pirates’ 142nd game. His season was shortened due to being placed on the 60-day injured list on May 9, 2021, after also being put on the 10-day injured list on April 4.

MLBbro Ke’Bryan Hayes Gets The Biggest Bag In Pittsburgh Pirates History | The Franchise Cornerstone Has Security

He wouldn’t let that be the case in 2022.

“He expects to play every single day,” director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk told MLB.com. “I know Ke’ had a goal coming in that he wanted to play every single day. That’s not even counting practice workload. He gets after it most days, and that’s the balance.”

Hayes played in 133 games and 1,102 2/3 innings at third base, making just 12 errors over 428 total chances for a .972 fielding percentage. But he played through back pain for the majority of the season. He was placed on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 16 (retroactive to Aug. 13) with a mid-muscle back strain, but his determination and goal to reach the qualifications kept him off the injured list for the rest of the season.

“For the most part, I’ve just been trying to find ways to really just get on the field, stay on the field,” Hayes said.

Hayes made his presence felt whenever he was on the field, leading Pittsburgh in both bWAR (4.2) and fWAR (3.0) while also being the first Pirate since Starling Marte in 2019 to record 20 stolen bases in a season.

Ke’Bryan Hayes Was On Fire Against The Cincinnati Reds | The Web Wizard Was Bro Bombing

His first Major League Gold Glove would be the cherry on top of a sensational season that saw Hayes become the highest-paid player in Pirates franchise history. He inked an eight-year deal worth a guaranteed $70 million with a club option for a ninth on April 12.