MLB announced the Gold Glove winners Tuesday night. I was happy to see this mentioned as a reason to give the award to Tucker Barnhart:
Barnhart was a surprise winner over perennial defensive stalwarts Buster Posey of the Giants and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. Barnhart, who led the NL with 661 blocked pitches, admitted he was “taken aback” and humbled by the win.
There is now a sabermetric component to the award, it’s not just voting by coaches and managers anymore. I also suspect it is becoming tougher to choose among players. Pitching and offense tend to balance out. One may get ahead of the other for a bit, but both sides adjust. Over time, runs per game, batting averages, etc, stay in a narrow range. There is nothing to balance fielding, however. Players get bigger, stronger, faster. Playing surfaces improve, gloves improve. All that leads to everyone being a better defender. There are a number of stupendous centerfielders, shortstops, catchers, etc. It’s tough picking the best from such an excellent group of candidates.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2hRmJy4
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