OC Register: Angels Kole Calhoun, Martin Maldonado, Andrelton Simmons and Justin Upton are Gold Glove finalists

[AngelsWin.com]

The Angels, whose strong defense was one of the reasons the team remained in contention this season despite an injury-riddled pitching staff, had half of their everyday position players recognized as Gold Glove finalists on Thursday.

Right fielder Kole Calhoun, catcher Martin Maldonado, shortstop Andrelton Simmons and left fielder Justin Upton, who spent only the final month with the Angels, were all listed among the top three at their positions by Rawlings, which administers the awards.

The winners will be announced Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN.

Simmons and Calhoun are the only ones who have previously won Gold Gloves, and only Calhoun with the Angels. All four players are going up against the reigning winners.

Simmons won two Gold Gloves with the Atlanta Braves, but he lost out to Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor in 2016, his first year in the American League. Lindor and Texas’ Elvis Andrus are the other finalists this year.

Calhoun won in 2015, but last year Boston’s Mookie Betts won. Betts and Calhoun are joined by the Yankees’ Aaron Judge among this year’s right field finalists.

Maldonado will need to beat out Kansas City’s Sal Perez, who has won the award four years in a row. Cleveland’s Yan Gomes is the third finalist. New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner won the award last year, ending a four-year run by Kansas City’s Alex Gordon. Both Gardner and Gordon were named finalists this year, along with Upton.

In the cases of Simmons and Maldonado, the statistical component that enters into the process should help them. The Society of American Baseball Research calculates an all-encompassing defensive index (SDI) that is included in the process of selecting a winner.

The last published SDI figures, through Aug. 27, showed Simmons and Maldonado both with sizable leads. Maldonado had a rating of 11.8, with Boston’s Sandy Leon second at 5.7. Gomes had a 5.0 and Perez a 2.3.

At shortstop, Simmons had a rating of 15.2. Andrus was second at 6.3, with Lindor fifth at 4.5.

In left field, Gordon (11.8) had the lead, followed by Upton (8.7) and Gardner (8.2). In right, Betts (20.1) was well ahead of Judge (7.4) and Calhoun (4.7).

Besides the statistical component, the award is based on voting by managers and coaches, conducted before the end of the regular season.

Mike Trout, although widely considered an above average center fielder, did not make the cut among the three finalists. Kansas City’s Lorenzo Cain, Toronto’s Kevin Pillar and Minnesota’s Byron Buxton were the finalists. Trout has never won a Gold Glove.

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[ukyah]

justin upton gold glove finalist. lol.

[tomsred]

15 minutes ago, ukyah said:

justin upton gold glove finalist. lol.

The power of negative reinforcement at work.

[Tank]

as we all learned the year rafael palmeiro earned a GG after playing something like 9 games in the field, the award is based on everything except your fielding prowess.

[tdawg87]

38 minutes ago, ukyah said:

justin upton gold glove finalist. lol.

Fuckin affirmative action.

[Inside Pitch]

58 minutes ago, Tank said:

as we all learned the year rafael palmeiro earned a GG after playing something like 9 games in the field, the award is based on everything except your fielding prowess.

Eric Hosmer has three GGs...   Play worse defense than CJ Cron.

[Tank]

23 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Eric Hosmer has three GGs...   Play worse defense than CJ Cron.

it's settled, then.

sign hosmer for 12/320 mil, and not a dime more.

[Troll Daddy]

Whoa Justin Upton but no Mike Trout ... what the ****

[Blarg]

Trout is never winning a gold glove in center with his weak throwing arm.

[arch stanton]

Buxton will win this year and probably for the next 5. Even if he doesn’t there’s still Kiermier, Pillar, Jones, Bradley......

[Angel Oracle]

33 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Trout is never winning a gold glove in center with his weak throwing arm.

It's better than when he first came up in 2011.   But yeah, it's no better than a shade below average for a CF.

[Ohtaniland]

35 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Trout is never winning a gold glove in center with his weak throwing arm.

Trout was a shortstop in High School. He’s a transitioned outfielder. He would probably be a better left fielder but that’s a whole other discussion. 

[greginpsca]

Upton reminded me of Matt Joyce in lf.