San Francisco Giants: Brandon Crawford Wins Gold Glove Award
Last week, four San Francisco Giants‘ players were named finalists at their respective positions for National League Gold Glove awards. On Tuesday night, shortstop Brandon Crawford won the award for the first time, making him the only Giant to win.
Crawford was up against the two-time reigning winner Andrelton Simmons of the Atlanta Braves, and the Miami Marlins’ exciting young shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. Though most of the metrics favored Simmons, Crawford was elected the winner by Major League managers and coaches. Crawford, whose glove was his main asset when he first broke in to the big leagues, is the Giants’ first Gold Glover since Omar Vizquel, also a shortstop, in 2006. The team also had a chance to have multiple winners for the first time since 1998, when J.T. Snow and Barry Bonds both won, but it did not come to fruition.
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At catcher, Buster Posey was named a finalist, along with defending seven-time winner Yadier Molina, and Washington Nationals’ backstop Wilson Ramos. In what was described as the tightest voting race, Molina snuck out with his eighth consecutive Gold Glove.
First baseman Brandon Belt was named a finalist for the first time, along with former Gold Glove winners Adrian Gonzalez and Paul Goldschmidt. The Arizona Diamondbacks’ first baseman Goldschmidt won the 2015 award, adding it to his trophy case, which already includes the 2013 honor.
Matt Duffy, the Giants’ rookie third baseman in his first full season at the position, was named a Gold Glove finalist, but in what should be an extremely unsurprising turn of events, Colorado Rockies’ third baseman Nolan Arenado took home his third straight Gold Glove, one for each of his seasons in the big leagues. Duffy still has a chance to take home some hardware, as he was named a finalist for the National League Rookie of the Year award, along with the Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jung Ho Kang. Bryant is viewed as the far and away favorite to win the award.
Throughout the National League, here are the rest of the winners:
2B – Dee Gordon (Miami Marlins, first career GG)
LF – Starling Marte (Pittsburgh Pirates, first career GG)
CF – A.J. Pollock (Arizona Diamondbacks, first career GG)
RF – Jason Heyward (St. Louis Cardinals, third career GG)
P – Zack Greinke (Los Angeles Dodgers, second straight GG)
On the American League side of things, here are the winners:
C – Salvador Perez (Kansas City Royals, third straight GG
1B – Eric Hosmer (Kansas City Royals, third straight GG)
2B – Jose Altuve (Houston Astros, first career GG)
3B – Manny Machado (Baltimore Orioles, second career GG)
SS – Alcides Escobar (Kansas City Royals, first career GG)
LF – Yoenis Cespedes (Detroit Tigers, first career GG)
CF – Kevin Kiermaier (Tampa Bay Rays, first career GG)
RF – Kole Calhoun (Los Angeles Angels, first career GG)
P – Dallas Keuchel (Houston Astros, second straight GG)
The Platinum Glove winners, given to the absolute best defensive players, at any position, in their respective leagues, will be announced on Friday, during the Gold Glover Award ceremony.
In total, there were nine first time Gold Glove award winners, and nine repeat winners. The Kansas City Royals had three winners, the most in the Majors, while the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, and St. Louis Cardinals all had two winners.