Paul Articulates – Give these gloves some love

The Gold Glove finalists were announced last Thursday, and the announcement did not elicit much joy in Metsville. 

I was initially excited to see that they had added a new category for “Utility Player” but then immediately disappointed to see that our all-world utility player Luis Guillorme had not made the list.  How could this be?  Guillorme had 3 errors in 754 innings this year.  This is the gold GLOVES, not some other hybrid award.  

The finalists for “Utility Player” included Tommy Edman (STL) and Daulton Varsho (ARI) who had both been nominated in other positions – Edman at 2B where he played most of the season and Varsho in RF where he played a little more than half his innings in the outfield.  The other finalist was another Cardinal, Brendan Donovan who accumulated a very dismal total of -3 Outs Above Average (OAA) for the season across all positions.

I had to make sense of this travesty, so I went to the advanced fielding statistics, compiling information on OAA, Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), and Fangraphs’ Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) which is a key component in the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) calculation.  

I tabulated each of these metrics plus the old reliable fielding percentage stat for each of the finalists and all the Mets starters.  Then I was even less satisfied.  Let’s start with “Utility Player”.  Guillorme had a .991 fielding percentage across all positions played this year which was superior to all three finalists.  His DRS rating was lower, which made me scratch my head because I saw some pretty slick fielding that made double plays happen where they normally would not and eye-popping catches where balls usually fall in for hits.  

Those plays also count for the “eye test” that voters are supposed to factor in.   The numbers vary, so I had a difficult time determining what the basis was for nominating finalists, but I would choose Guillorme over ANY utility player in baseball for my team.

The Cardinals had 5 nominations.  They were tied for fourth in MLB with 67 defensive runs saved (DRS) even though they had the most Gold Glove finalists and generally were regarded as the top defensive team in the NL.  The Dodgers (86) had the best DRS in the NL and had two finalists.  The Mets were a pedestrian 15th in baseball with 13 DRS and one finalist – Tomas Nido.

Nido was an interesting nomination, as he began the season with the title “backup catcher” and had to vie for playing time with the incumbent starter James McCann, AAA call-up Patrick Mazeika, and the looming specter of Francisco Alvarez gaining ground in the rear view mirror.  

McCann got hurt, Mazeika got released, and Nido started hitting enough to stay in the lineup and show off his ability to throw out runners from his knees.  Here’s how the catcher race stacks up for GG.  It looks like Realmuto should get the award, as his stats and his reputation are going to be tough to beat, but good for Tomas – he deserves some recognition.

Now back to complaining about the other GG finalists.  The nominees for shortstop were Dansby Swanson (ATL), Miguel Rojas (MIA), and Ha-Seong Kim (SD).  Not on the list were some other stellar shortstops in the NL where talent abounds, but the one we Mets fans wanted on the list was Francisco Lindor, the ever durable and reliable middle infielder that made a big impact on the Mets’ improvement this year. 

 Lindor ranked third in the league in OAA and sixth in UZR which was a stat that seemed to have considerable weight in the nominations.  We all know Swanson – probably too well.  Rojas racked up some impressive stats for a non-contending Miami team.  The real surprise was Kim, who everyone thought was a fill-in for the injured (then tainted) Fernando Tatis Jr.

At second base, I would not have expected Jeff McNeil to be nominated, as he plays a very capable but not spectacular game at the position.  However, having reviewed the advanced statistics, I believe that a better case can be made for McNeil who had superior stats over fellow all-star 2B Jake Cronenworth.  If Edman was really a utility player and Cronenworth had inferior stats, then my choice would be between McNeil and Rodgers for the gold.

The choices for finalist at the Pitcher position in the NL were interesting.  It is fairly difficult to choose a standout defensive pitcher because there are not too many opportunities that come their way.  However, since there are advanced metrics for everything, we can look at how the hurlers compare.  The best fielding Met pitcher according to the metrics was Taijuan Walker, which is not surprising given his athletic ability.  

With six DRS, Taijuan ranked second in the NL to Ranger Suarez of the Phillies.  Neither one of them were chosen.  The next three ranked by DRS were the finalists.  By the way, Carlos Carrasco tied for sixth in DRS.  There are no OAA or UZR ratings for pitchers, so I guess the imposing 6’4” 235lb frame must have eluded the eye test.

I could go on with arguments about Nimmo and Canha who both recorded 1.000 fielding percentages this year at their positions, but the rest of the numbers don’t stack up.  I’ll just end this discussion by saying that the 2022 NY Mets played some very solid defense this year, and I think they took pride in that part of their game.  

It was not just flashy diving catches and spin-o-rama throws, but real fundamental defensive baseball where everyone on the field is moving, communicating, and backing up plays.  That wins ballgames but maybe not Golden Gloves.  I’ll take the wins.  Let’s go Mets!