On Tuesday, Rawlings announced the finalists for the Gold Glove Awards at each position. The Royals fared pretty well, earning four nominations: two for pitcher, one for catcher, and one for shortstop.
Based on most metrics, the Royals were one of the best defensive clubs in baseball, so it’s unsurprising that Kansas City was well-represented in the Gold Glove finalist list.
According to Fangraphs, they ranked first in OAA (Outs Above Average) and Def (Fangraphs’ Defensive metric), second in UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) and FRV (Fielding Runs Value), and seventh in DRS (Defensive Runs Saved). Based on those rankings, one would think they would have more than four Gold Glove nominees. However, it’s a vast improvement from when they didn’t have a finalist a year ago.
Thus, how did Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, Bobby Witt, Jr., and Freddy Fermin earn their Gold Glove nominations this year? Furthermore, were any particular Royals snubbed this season?
Let’s analyze the defensive data and explore the four Royals’ candidacies and one player who should certainly be considered a snub.
Lugo and Ragans Excelled Not Just With Arms But Gloves
Many baseball fans don’t think about pitching defense, but surprisingly, it can be an essential factor. According to DRS, the Royals ranked third in pitching defense, just behind the Giants and Pirates, and ahead of every other team in the postseason.
DRS heavily contributes to the SABR Defensive Index, which is one of the primary metrics used to determine Gold Glove nominations.
According to Fangraphs, Seth Lugo is second in baseball with a +5 DRS, and Ragans is tied for eighth with a +3 DRS. Thus, considering their “top tier” status as pitchers in the American League this year (they likely will both earn AL Cy Young votes), it’s unsurprising that their stellar gloves also got recognition.
Interestingly, another pitcher on the Royals pitching staff also deserved Gold Glove consideration.
Michael Wacha tied Lugo with a +5 DRS this season. Based on standard defensive metrics via Fangraphs, Wacha tied Lugo in double plays created and started (3) this season, and Wacha had 20 assists, which ranked second behind Lugo’s 29. One could argue that Wacha had a stronger case for a Gold Glove than Ragans, but Ragans’ Cy Young candidacy probably influenced him to be a finalist over Wacha.
That shouldn’t dismiss Ragans’s performance this season.
The Royals lefty had 19 assists and zero errors, both solid marks. Ragans’ nomination over Wacha and Brady Singer, who also had 19 assists and a DRS of +3, shouldn’t be as slight to Wacha or Singer, but instead, it shows the depth of the Royals’ pitching defense in 2024.
It will be interesting to see if Ragans or Lugo will join Zack Greinke as Royals pitchers with a Gold Glove in their trophy cases (Greinke is a six-time Gold Glove winner).
Witt Should Be A Favorite at Shortstop
Witt was one of the biggest Gold Glove snubs in 2023, especially after he posted a +14 OAA and +10 FRV. This season, he did even better in those categories, posting a +16 OAA and +12 OAA while playing 1,393 innings at one of baseball’s most demanding non-catching positions.
Witt has rated well in Statcast categories over the past two years, which wasn’t always the case for him.
In 2022, his rookie year, he posted a -2 OAA and FRV at third base and a -9 OAA and -6 FRV at shortstop. Thus, to see him not only turn it around defensively but do it so dramatically and consistently over two years demonstrates Witt’s talent and work ethic.
A positive aspect of his defense this season compared to 2023 is that Witt has seen an improvement in other advanced defensive metrics he didn’t do so well in a season ago.
Last year, Witt had a -6 DRS and 0.2 UZR at shortstop. Those are both mediocre marks, and it’s not surprising that his lackluster DRS and UZR marks hurt how he fared in the SABR Defensive Index in 2023.
This year? His performance in those categories has seen a considerable uptick.
His DRS this season is +2, and his UZR is +3.5. It’s encouraging to see Witt rated as a positive player in all three defensive categories. It also shows that Witt is the real deal defensively at shortstop, and that earned that Gold Glove nomination along with Cleveland’s Brian Rocchio and the Yankees’ Anthony Volpe.
Even though Witt fares much better in OAA than Volpe (15) and Rocchio (6), it’s a different story on a DRS end.
Rocchio ranks third in DRS of all AL Shortstops with a +10 mark. Volpe ranked 6th, but his +5 DRS was still better than Bobby’s this season.
Will DRS win the day for Rocchio or Volpe? It’s certainly plausible, especially considering the SABR Defensive Index breakdown.
That said, 75% of the vote does come from managers and coaches, and opposing managers widely lauded Witt’s defense throughout the season and his commitment to improving it every offseason (and practice) since his rookie year.
I think it will be a close vote, but Bobby will win his first Gold Glove this year based not on his DRS but on the respect he has earned across the league for his defense at shortstop.
Freddy’s Defense Gets the Nod Over Salvy’s
Seeing the Royals get a Gold Glove nomination at catcher isn’t surprising. However, Freddy Fermin’s nomination over Salvador Perez was a bit shocking, especially since Fermin was the primary backup to Salvy this season.
Looking at the data via Fangraphs, it makes sense why Fermin was a finalist at catcher over the Royals’ captain.
Fermin was 7.4 runs better than Salvy in Def, six runs better in FRV, and a whopping 21 runs better in DRS. His +16 DRS also ranked as the top mark in the American League for catchers (tied with Seattle’s Cal Raleigh), which is incredible for a backup (Fermin had roughly half the innings of Raleigh).
The 29-year-old Venezuelan excelled in keeping opposing runners in check on the basepaths. According to Statcast, he posted a CS-above-average mark of +8, the third-best in baseball. He also ranked highly in other categories that led to that CSAA total.
Throwing runners out wasn’t his only skill. He also had a catcher blocks above average of +10, which ranked sixth in baseball via Savant. That was significantly better than Salvy, who had a -1 blocks above average mark in 2024.
The only category that Fermin didn’t excel in was catcher framing.
According to Statcast data, he was one framing run below average with a strike rate of 47.8%. As in the blocking and throwing metrics, those numbers were better than Salvy’s, two runs below average, and had a strike rate of 46.9%.
Fermin may not win the catching Gold Glove award in 2024 simply because he doesn’t have the innings as the other candidates (Raleigh and Detroit’s Jake Rogers).
That said, Freddy is proving that he deserves more time behind the plate in 2025 due to his excellent defense, and it was nice to see him recognized nationally for his efforts from the past season.
Did Kyle Isbel Get Robbed?
Isbel posted a +10 OAA in 2024, the second-best overall mark in the category of Royals fielders, behind only Witt. Unfortunately, he did not earn a nomination for the Gold Glove Award in center field.
I didn’t have any egregious concerns with that trio of centerfielders, especially since they have all been rated so well defensively in previous seasons. Thus, I decided to compare Isbel to those three via Fangraphs to see if Isbel outshined them in any defensive category.
As Royals fans can see, as good as Isbel was for Kansas City in center field this year, he still paled compared to Varsho, Duran, and Meyers.
Isbel’s DRS was the lowest of the group at +5. He was also 24 runs behind Varsho, who rated as the best in the category. His FRV was also the only one of the group in the single digits, and even though he had one less OAA on Fangraphs than he did on Statcast, it still ranked behind the three Gold Glove finalists.
Thus, the Rawling Gold Glove nomination committee didn’t make an error by omitting Isbel.
The Royals have prided themselves in having a solid defensive centerfielder, especially considering Kauffman Stadium’s spacious dimensions. Michael A. Taylor won a Gold Glove in 2021 and was nominated in 2022 for his stellar fielding with the Royals. There was some worry that when Taylor was traded away, the defense in center field would take a step back.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case the past two seasons, especially this year, as Isbel stayed healthy and played in 131 games (he often was benched against lefty starting pitchers for Garrett Hampson, who posted a +5 OAA and +2 DRS in CF this year).
If anything, Isbel demonstrated that he has Gold Glove potential and could become a finalist or even winner in 2025 if he continues to put in more work (especially in terms of throwing) this offseason.
Photo Credit: Brandon Sloter/GettyImages