San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman has won his fifth Gold Glove, while Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is one of 14 players who won this important fielding award for the first time.
Cleveland second baseman Andrés Giménez and left fielder Steven Kwan both received the award for the third year in a row, along with Arizona first baseman Christian Walker and Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ, as announced by Rawlings on Sunday.
Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle also earned his Gold Glove for the second consecutive season. This is Chapman’s first Gold Glove in the National League. He previously won three while playing for Oakland and one with Toronto.
St. Louis slugger Nolan Arenado, a ten-time Gold Glove winner, and Colorado’s Ryan McMahon were also finalists for the third base award.
“A lot of really good defensive third basemen are stacked in the National League,” Chapman said in a video call. “I was able to come over here and win it, so I thought that was pretty cool and to get one in the American League and the National League now means a lot.”
Six teams had two Gold Glove winners each. The Guardians were joined by Colorado, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Seattle.
AL first-time winners, in addition to Witt, include Royals pitcher Seth Lugo, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, Minnesota first baseman Carlos Santana, Houston third baseman Alex Bregman, Toronto center fielder Daulton Varsho, Boston right fielder Wilyer Abreu, and Mariners utilityman Dylan Moore.
NL first-time winners include Atlanta pitcher Chris Sale, Giants catcher Patrick Bailey, Milwaukee second baseman Brice Turang, right fielder Sal Frelick, Colorado shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, and Pittsburgh utilityman Jared Triolo.
Frelick and Turang are the first Brewers players to win a Gold Glove since Lorenzo Cain in 2019. They are also the second pair of Brewers teammates to earn Gold Gloves in the same season, joining Cecil Cooper and Sixto Lezcano from 1979.
“It’s obviously an honor,” Frelick said. “A little surreal, still. Obviously I think even cooler to do it with Brice.”
Bregman received a $50,000 bonus, while Giménez, Lugo, Moore, and Witt each got $50,000, and Santana received $25,000. There were also 14 first-time winners in 2022.
Voting was done by managers and up to six coaches from each team, who cannot vote for players on their own team. Since 2013, the voting has included a defensive index from the Society for American Baseball Research, which makes up about 25% of the total score.
The utility category is determined using a SABR formula along with other defensive stats.
