Chicago Cubs net three well-deserving Gold Glove Award finalists

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Three members of the Chicago Cubs are finalists for the 2018 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. Never before have three Cubs won the honors in the same year.

Could the Chicago Cubs Anthony Rizzo (first base), Javier Baez (second base), Jason Heyward (right field) all win when the 2018 Gold Glove recipients are announced on Nov. 4?

First, some rules govern the process. According to the Rawlings site, the “Rawlings Gold Glove Award® represents overall fielding excellence, and it is not an award based solely on fielding metrics and statistics, nor does it factor offensive production.”

“Only the manager and his coaching staff on each Major League Baseball team vote. Managers and coaches cannot vote for their own players and can only vote for players in their own League.”

Now, people often wonder what metrics are used when determining awards such as these. In this instance, the SABR Defensive Index is employed. This is, according to Rawlings:

“… the measure of the number of runs saved by a player’s defensive performance over the course of a season, compared to the average defensive player at that position.”

One note here is that the latest available SDI rankings are through Aug. 19, 2018. The final SDI rankings will not be available until after the awards are announced. Nonetheless, we can get a feel for each candidate based on roughly 75 percent of the season.

Chicago Cubs: NL first base: Anthony Rizzo, Freddy Freeman, Joey Votto

SDI rankings: all three are within two-tenths of each other. Joey Votto (1 Gold Glove) 5.7, Freddie Freeman 5.6, Anthony Rizzo (1 Gold Glove) 5.5, so no clear winner here. Looking at other stats, Rizzo and Freeman posted .995 fielding percentages, Votto was a hair better at .996. Call this one even as well.

Digging into the numbers a little deeper we find Freeman clearing the field on Revised Zone Rating (.851) versus Votto (.839) and Rizzo (.829), and on UZR-150 8.2 for Freeman versus 5.0 (Votto) and 2.0 (Rizzo).

On stats alone, it looks like Freeman has an advantage but it could come down to intangibles among the managers and coaching staff who vote. I am particularly curious about how Rizzo’s uber-aggressive plays on bunts will play with the voters.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: NL second base: Javier Baez, DJ LeMahieu, Kolton Wong

I never would have guessed this outcome on the SDI rankings. Wong 12.3, LeMahieu (2 Gold Gloves) 11.9, Baez 0.0. But on fielding percentage, LeMahieu is the only one in the top five at .993. Baez (.984) and Wong (.981) aren’t close.

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In UZR-150, Wong is strongest at 17.6, LeMahieu slides in at 12.5. Baez is a distant 1.7. El Mago could be the sleeper here because there isn’t even a metric for tagging, but I think it’s between Wong and LeMahieu in the end.

NL right field: Jason Heyward, Jon Jay, Nick Markakis

Nick Markakis (2 Gold Gloves) at 3.8 and Jason Heyward (5 Gold Gloves) at 3.2, rank first and second in the SDI rankings, and the floor falls out pretty quickly after that. Jay leads the group in fielding percentage (1.000), with Markakis (.994), and Heyward (.991) following behind.

In UZR-150, Heyward’s 7.8 puts him far ahead of Jay (1.9) and Markakis (1.1). This is a strong group so it’s anyone’s guess.

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This seems like one of those instances where the metrics don’t align with the eye test. We hear that criticism constantly from old-school baseball pundits who think there is more to baseball than sabermetrics. We all know what Javier Baez is capable of – can he join his teammates Anthony RIzzo and Jason Heyward with a Gold Glove in his trophy room?

We’ll find out on November 4.

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