Christian Walker, Alek Thomas, and Gabi Moreno named Gold Glove finalists for Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks have boasted a strong defense throughout the season. That prowess was rewarded on Wednesday with three players named finalists for Rawlings Gold Glove awards.
First baseman Christian Walker, center fielder Alek Thomas, and catcher Gabi Moreno all were selected during voting by all 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team. Walker is looking to earn his second-straight Gold Glove; Thomas and Moreno would be first-time winners if selected.
"It speaks volumes about what is important to us in this organization, and I feel like we have more potential Gold Glovers in the future that are coming as well," manager Torey Lovullo said.
Walker is a finalist at first alongside the Milwaukee Brewers’ Carlos Santana and Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman.
“We have some unbelievable first basemen that he is competing with," Lovullo said. "The growth and development that he has shown over the course of time since I've been here and he's been here, have been amazing. That is really a lot of hard work, and he's absolutely spoiled us over there.”
Walker led all first basemen with +12 Outs Above Average this season.
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All first-timers at center field, Thomas was nominated alongside Brenton Doyle of the Colorado Rockies and Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves.
Thomas fought through adversity this season when he was optioned to Triple-A Reno for a month at the start of the season. Although he's made some standout leaping catches, he wasn't sure he'd make the cut.
“I think at the beginning of the season, I wasn’t playing the best or just Gold Glove defense. I was playing average defense," Thomas said. "I wasn’t really expecting it, so when I saw it, I was like, Sweet. I definitely made some plays that are worthy, but once I get that full season in, I have a real chance.”
Thomas recorded +5 Outs Above Average this season.
"It’s no secret how fun he is to watch," Walker said. "I got a feeling he’s going to win a lot of hardware on that side of the ball for his career. He’s young and mature and hardworking.”
Moreno is a finalist with fellow rookie Patrick Bailey of the San Francisco Giants and two-time winner J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies.
"Gabi’s had an incredible year," Walker said. "He’s throwing out guys at a crazy rate and I’ve seen him getting better this year with making pitches look like strikes and receiving and blocking and controlling the game."
Moreno has controlled the running game particularly well with an MLB-best +9 caught stealings above average.
"As we unraveled Gabi and peeled back some of his talents, we quickly discovered that he was a run stopper — I'm sorry, a stolen base stopper," Lovullo said. "You couldn't advance 90 feet on him. Once again, I go back into the weight room and watched his process start early in the day to go out and prepare himself for a game, so it's preparation, his ability to get better has just been improving."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Three Diamondbacks players named Gold Glove finalists
