First baseman Carlos Santana the only Milwaukee Brewers finalist for Rawlings Gold Glove award
Though the Milwaukee Brewers were regarded by most metrics as one of the best — if not the best — defensive teams in baseball, only one player was acknowledged as a finalist for the Rawlings Gold Glove awards ... and he was here only two months.
Brewers first baseman Carlos Santana, acquired shortly before the trade deadline from the Pittsburgh Pirates, is a finalist in the National League alongside Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Christian Walker of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Milwaukee's 24 outs above average ranked No. 1 in all of baseball, according to Statcast.
In Defensive Runs Saved, according to The Fielding Bible, Santana led all first basemen with 11, two ahead of Walker.
Santana graded out as plus-2 in the "outs above average" metric offered by Statcast, with Walker (plus-12) the runaway leader in that department.
The Brewers have won only two Gold Gloves since 1982, both by center fielders with Carlos Gomez in 2013 and Lorenzo Cain in 2019. First baseman George Scott won five from 1972-76, Cecil Cooper won a pair in 1979 and 1980 at the same spot, and outfielder Sixto Lezcano (1979) and shortstop Robin Yount (1982) each won one.
Winners will be announced Nov. 5.
Several Brewers players with strong defensive seasons not recognized
Brewers second baseman Brice Turang, regarded as perhaps the staple of the team's defensive strength this year, was not among the three finalists in the NL. Ha-Seong Kim of San Diego, Nico Hoerner of the Cubs and Bryson Stott of Philadelphia netted those spots.
Catcher William Contreras, who greatly improved his defense this season in addition to serving as the Brewers' best offensive player, was not a finalist at his spot, falling behind Patrick Bailey of the Giants, Gabriel Moreno of the Diamondbacks and J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies.
Shortstop Willy Adames, another defensive linchpin, was not selected in the NL behind Francisco Lindor of the Mets, Dansby Swanson of the Cubs and Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies.
Left fielder Christian Yelich and starting pitcher Corbin Burnes, both finalists last year, were not selected. NL left-fielder finalists were Ian Happ of the Cubs, David Peralta of the Dodgers and Eddie Rosario of the Braves. Starting pitcher finalists were Jesús Luzardo of Miami, Zack Wheeler of Philadelphia and Taijuan Walker of Philadelphia.
Wisconsinite, former Brewers player both finalists
Wisconsin native and Toronto outfielder Daulton Varsho is a finalist in the American League in left field. Varsho was a finalist at "utility" for the Diamondbacks last year but lost out to St. Louis Cardinals player Brendan Donovan. Varsho leads all players in Major League Baseball with 29 defensive runs saved, according to The Fielding Bible, and is sixth among outfielders in outs above average, according to Statcast (and tops among anyone not playing center field).
Varsho hails from Marshfield and was in his first year with the Blue Jays after getting traded from Arizona. He's the lone alumnus of UW-Milwaukee to appear in the big leagues. He'll be competing for the award with Steven Kwan of Cleveland and Austin Hays of Baltimore.
Former Milwaukee Brewers infielder Mauricio Dubón was named as a second baseman in the American League and also appeared as a finalist for "utility." Dubón briefly appeared with the Brewers in 2019 before a trade sent him to San Francisco; he's now with the Houston Astros and made a diving catch playing center field in the American League Championship Series.
He's up against Texas' Marcus Semien and Cleveland's Andrés Giménez at second base and fellow utility players Zach McKinstry of Detroit and Taylor Walls of Tampa Bay.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Carlos Santana lone Brewers finalist for Rawlings Gold Glove award
