2020 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners announced
For the eighth consecutive season, the SABR Defensive Index™ was used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award and Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™, presented by SABR. Due to the compressed 2020 MLB season, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award qualifications have been amended to rely solely on the SABR Defensive Index, rather than a combination of the SDI and the managers and coaches’ vote.
The 2020 Gold Glove winners were announced on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” on Tuesday, November 3.
Click here to view the final SDI rankings for the 2020 season.
Here are the winners of the 2020 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, announced Tuesday night:
| Position | AL winner | Team | Award | NL winner | Team | Award | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Griffin Canning | LAA | 1st | Max Fried | ATL | 1st | ||
| C | Roberto Pérez | CLE | 2nd | Tucker Barnhart | CIN | 2nd | ||
| 1B | Evan White | SEA | 1st | Anthony Rizzo | CHC | 4th | ||
| 2B | César Hernández | CLE | 1st | Kolten Wong | STL | 2nd | ||
| SS | J.P. Crawford | SEA | 1st | Javier Báez | CHC | 1st | ||
| 3B | Isiah Kiner-Falefa | TEX | 1st | Nolan Arenado | COL | 8th | ||
| LF | Alex Gordon | KCR | 8th | Tyler O’Neill | STL | 1st | ||
| CF | Luis Robert | CHW | 1st | Trent Grisham | SDP | 1st | ||
| RF | Joey Gallo | TEX | 1st | Mookie Betts | LAD | 5th |
The SDI is compiled by the SABR Defensive Committee, which includes former SABR Board President Vince Gennaro; Sean Forman of Baseball-Reference.com; Ben Jedlovec, MLB’s Director of Engineering, Data Quality; SABR Director F.X. Flinn; author and defensive metrics expert Chris Dial; and author Michael Humphreys.
For 2020 consideration, pitchers must have pitched at least 50 innings, catchers must have played in at least 29 games and infielders/outfielders must have completed at least 265 defensive innings. Each player qualifies at the position he has played at most (SDI is only for play at qualified position).
The SABR Defensive Index draws on and aggregates two types of existing defensive metrics: those derived from batted ball location-based data and those collected from play-by-play accounts. The three metrics representing batted ball data include Defensive Runs Saved from Baseball Info Solutions, Ultimate Zone Rating developed by noted sabermetrician Mitchel Lichtman, and Runs Effectively Defended based on STATS Zone Rating and built by SABR Defensive Committee member Chris Dial. The two metrics included in the SDI originating from play-by-play data are Defensive Regression Analysis, created by committee member Michael Humphreys, and Total Zone Rating.
Learn more about the SABR Defensive Index and view updated rankings at SABR.org/SDI.
Vote for Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners:
In 2011, Rawlings introduced the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award to honor the best defender in each League among the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners in each season.
The SDI’s ability to accurately compare players from different positions will help determine the updated Rawlings Platinum Glove Award, presented by SABR. Fans continue to have a voice during this process, and can cast their vote for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners.
- Vote now: Click here to vote for the 2020 Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners. Stay tuned to learn the winner on Friday night during a special broadcast on MLB Network at 6:00 p.m. ET on November 6.
Oakland third baseman Matt Chapman and Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado won their respective league’s Rawlings Platinum Glove Award last season.
Originally published: November 3, 2020. Last Updated: November 3, 2020.