Gold Gloves, NL Style
By Fetch
I looked at the AL yesterday, so why not do the NL Today?
C: Winner – Yadier Molina, STL
No problems here. Molina is unquestionably one of the best if not the best in the NL.
1B: Winner – Adrian Gonzalez, SD (+3.8, 1st in NL)
Gonzalez had a lower UZR/150 than Cubs 1B Derrek Lee, but logged over 100 more innings in the field to give him the advantage in UZR
2B: Winner – Orlando Hudson, LAD (-3.3, 7th in NL)
Yet another award Chase Utley got robbed of. Utley led the NL with a 10.8 UZR, 3 runs better than the next competitor. Looks like I was correct when I called him the most underrated player in baseball.
3B: Winner – Ryan Zimmerman, WAS (+18.1, 1st in NL)
Zimmerman is one of the best defenders in baseball, regardless of position. Nice, albeit easy, choice here.
SS: Winner – Jimmy Rollins, PHI (+2.7, 5th in NL)
Not terribly indefensible. Rollins’s range is just a tick below the guys above him, and he only made 6 errors. I can definitely see why he was picked.
OF: Winners – Shane Victorino, PHI (-4.1, 18th)
Michael Bourn, HOU (+8.6, 5th)
Matt Kemp, LAD (+2.6, 11th)
Nyjer Morgan absolutely should have won one. His 27.8 UZR was by far the best in the outfield this year. He has put up great UZR/150s in the past, although that was all in limited playing time, so there was some trepidation as to whether or not he was that guy. We still need more data, but it seems apparent that he is indeed a very good centerfielder. Randy Winn (+16.5) and Mike Cameron (+10) were the next two. Honestly, other than Derek Jeter getting a gold glove (and Adam Jones) this year’s gold gloves were about as good as you could expect.