With the regular season over and the Major League Baseball playoffs well into the two League Championship Series, MLB announced the 30 finalists for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. Of the 60 nominees, 21 are Latine.
The Gold Glove Award, given out since 1957, “honors the best defenders at each position in each league. Major League managers and coaches, voting only within their league and unable to vote for players on their own teams, account for 75 percent of the selection process. The other 25 percent goes to the sabermetrics community. Since 1958, separate AL and NL Gold Gloves have been awarded.”
Gold Gloves are often given out to the players with terrific fielding percentages and those less susceptible to making errors, but players whose ability to make exciting and phenomenal plays are also recognized, like this home run robbery Julio Rodríguez pulled on Fernando Tatis Jr.
Or David Peralta robbing a home run from Carson Kelly. There is truly nothing like an outfielder robbing a hitter of extra bases!
The Latine players nominated in the National League are Gabriel Moreno (Arizona Diamondbacks), David Peralta (Los Angeles Dodgers), Eddie Rosario (Atlanta Braves), Carlos Santana (Milwaukee Brewers), Alek Thomas, (Arizona Diamondbacks), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres), Jesús Luzardo (Miami Marlins), Taijuan Walker (Philadelphia Phillies), Francisco Lindor (New York Mets), and Ezequiel Tovar of the Colorado Rockies.
On the American League side, the Latine nominees are Alejandro Kirk (Toronto Blue Jays), Mauricio Dubón (Houston Astros), Andrés Giménez (Cleveland Guardians), José Ramírez (Cleveland Guardians), Carlos Correa (Minnesota Twins), Luis Robert. Jr (Chicago White Sox), Julio Rodríguez (Seattle Mariners), Adolis García (Texas Rangers), Alex Verdugo (Boston Red Sox), José Berríos (Toronto Blue Jays), and Pablo López of the Minnesota Twins.
The winners will be announced on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight on Sunday, November 5, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Best of luck to all the nominees, especially the Latines!