Wieters, Markakis, and Hardy Finalists in Gold Glove Award

I recently wrote an article discussing which Orioles had the best chance of winning a Gold Glove this season.

I mentioned J.J. Hardy, Matt Wieters, Nick Markakis, and Adam Jones. And boy was I spot on.

Hardy, Markakis, and Wieters are all in the top 3 at their position for the Gold Glove.

As for SS: Hardy, the Angels’ Erick Aybar, and the Indians’ Asdrubal Cabrera are finalists for the award.

Player Games Errors Fielding Percentage
Hardy 129 6 .990
Aybar 142 13 .980
Cabrera 151 15 .976

Based on the numbers, Hardy looks like the clear winner. However, one thing to keep in mind is that he missed a month or so because of his time on the DL. Cabrera played the most amount of games and therefore has the most errors but Hardy still looks like the winner, especially considering how much of a standout season he had.

To see the other comparisons of the Oriole nominees, read after the jump!

Onto the catchers: Wheaties obviously, White Sox’s A.J. Pierzynski, and the Tigers’ Alex Avila are the AL finalists. Funny because these are the three I talked about in my article.

Player Games Errors Fielding % Caught Stealing Caught Stealing % Passed Balls DP
Wieters 132 5 .995 34 out of 58 .370 1 14
Pierzynski 120 4 .995 24 out of 94 .203 4 4
Avila 133 5 .995 40 out of 85 .320 7 14

Clearly, Wieters and Avila are the only two actually in this race. The three are almost identical in errors committed and fielding percentage but after that, Pierzynski is completely shown up by the other two. It’s also interesting that both Wieters and Avila came into the league in 2009 and they have proven themselves as the two best defensive catchers in the AL.

The race between Wheaties and Avila is very tight. The games played isn’t a factor as Avila only played in one more game than Wieters. Their fielding percentage, errors committed, and double play count are identical for the two backstops. So, you have to look at one of the most important stats for a catcher defensively: those caught stealing. Although Avila threw more players out when trying to steal (6 more than Wieters in 27 more tries), Wieters caught stealing percentage is 0.50 points higher than Avila’s. That is what will win him the Gold Glove this season. I don’t see how he could possibly lose it this year. Taking all of that information and adding it to the fact that Wieters only recorded one passed ball (despite the horrendous pitching staff) and Avila had seven, the Gold Glove is pretty much in the bag for Wieters.

Finally, for right fielders: Nicky, the Angels’ Torii Hunter, and the Royals’ Jeff Francoeur. Again, these are the three I highlighted in my previous article. So, pat on the back for me!

Player Games Errors Fielding Percentage Assists Double Plays Put-Outs
Markakis 157 0 1.000 14 3 311 out of 325
Hunter 136 3 .989 15 2 260 out of 278
Francoeur 153 5 .986 16 4 327 out of 348

Again, it’s looking pretty good for Markakis. He’s due for this award as he has a Gold Glove every season but someone else always just beats him out. However, he leads in the most important categories this season: fielding percentage and errors committed. Markakis had an absolutely perfect year this season missing only 5 games and not committing a single error. He should win the award just on that but if you go even further, his case to win is argued more. Although he had the lowest number of assists out of the three, they are only separated by one or two assists. He’s in the middle of the three with 3 double plays which is impressive in itself. Finally, he has the best put-out to put-out chance percentage at .956 when the other two are around .930. I don’t see how Nicky loses out this season either.

It’s looking pretty good that the Orioles get 3 Gold Glove winners this season. I don’t see how Wieters and Markakis lose this season and Hardy argues a pretty solid case to win as well.

The results will be announced live tomorrow night Tuesday November 1st on ESPN2 at 10:00 PM. I will be writing an article after with the winners and my take on them (and hopefully some congratulations to the Orioles players!). Stay tuned!