Colorado Rockies Gold Glove streak outlasts Nolan Arenado’s
Oct 18, 2023, 12:33 PM | Updated: 12:39 pm
The Colorado Rockies have had a player nominated for Gold Glove at third base for 11 straight seasons, now longer than Nolan Arenado’s record-setting streak, which ended on Wednesday.
Arenado, made history by starting his career with a decade of winning the award for best defender at his position, joining only Ichiro Suzuki as the only players to do so. The former Rockies third baseman who was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021. Since, Ryan McMahon has had the gig of replacing the legend and has done well enough to earn three-straight nominations for the National League’s Gold Glove Award. This time around the current Rockies third baseman is against defensive standout Ke’Bryan Hayes and All-Star Austin Riley.
Despite still playing over 140 gamest his season, Arenado dWAR dropped from 13.2 to 3.7 this season, that number peaked at 17.2 in 2019. Statcast had Arenado’s outs above average falling from 14 last year to five, again peaking at 22 in 2019. While his errors went down this year so have his assists and putouts showing Arenado, 32, has had his range diminish.
McMahon played 130 of his 147 at third base, appearing at second base and DH for the Rockies as well. He recorded 11 outs above average (OAA) this season, a carrer-best. Riley only recorded a zero for OAA, while Hayes led all third basemen with 17.
Arenado’s streak will go down as the fourth-longest among infielders only passed by Hall of Famers Brooks Robins, Ozzie Smith and Keith Hernandez.
This season earned two Rockies rookies in Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle Gold Glove nominations. Tovar is the third diffrent shortstop of the last 11 seasons for the Rockies joining Trevor Story in 2019 and Troy Tulowitzki in 2013 to be nominated at shortstop. If Doyle somehow won, he’d be the first Rockies centerfielder to ever win the award.
Tovar was nominated alongside Francisco Lindor and Dansby Swanson, the Cub led baseball at 20 OAA for any position, with the Rockies shortstop being third in the NL behind Swanson and Willy Adames.
Doyle’s 16 OAA, led all outfielders by a lot. Though because he’s a rookie and his bat struggled—it may be tough for the young centerfielder to take home the Gold Glove. If either Rockies rookie won, they’d be the first rookie to win in Colorado since Arenado.
Obviously, the Arenado trade has not been a pretty one for the Rockies, but a positive—maybe the only one—is that it cleared a spot for McMahon who has been more the capable at the hot corner.
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