Who are the 2015 Fielding Bible Award / Gold Glove Contenders? (Part I)

As we approach the postseason, teams like the Royals, Astros, and Pirates continue to show how important good defensive play can be to overall team success. While we are all looking forward to October baseball, the end of the regular season also affords us the opportunity to reflect on the players who have had praise-worthy seasons. I am one of the 12 voters for the Fielding Bible Awards, and here are some of the things I will consider as I fill out my ballot, as well as my speculation on who will win the Gold Glove Awards.

For Part I, we’ll be looking at catchers and infielders. Next week, we’ll have a Part II that covers pitchers and outfielders. (Note: In the tables below, the numbers next to the player names represent their Defensive Runs Saved totals.)

Catchers: Many of the usual suspects at catcher have had—relatively speaking—down seasons. Six-time Fielding Bible Award winner Yadier Molina has saved just six runs, and a recent thumb injury will likely cost him the chance to improve his total over the last few weeks of the season. Last year’s winner, Jonathan Lucroy, suffered a big toe fracture in April that cost him more than a month, and he has only saved three runs this season. That should open the door for a first-time winner, and there are many worthy candidates. Buster Posey likely sets the pace. His excellent pitch-framing and pitch-blocking are more subtle than the baserunner throw outs of big-armed catchers, but they are extremely valuable. His 14 Runs Saved are tied for the most in baseball and should make him the frontrunner for the Fielding Bible Award and the NL Gold Glove.

The AL is wide open with few big names at the top of the DRS standings. Salvador Perez, who has won the Gold Glove each of the last two seasons, has just four Runs Saved thanks in part to subpar pitch-framing. In contrast, Tyler Flowers of the White Sox, Jason Castro of the Astros, and Caleb Joseph of the Orioles are all defense-first catchers with a great chance of snagging their first Award.

First Basemen: Unlike at catcher, the first base leaderboard looks pretty similar to the ones from recent seasons. A healthy Paul Goldschmidt has separated himself from the field with 16 DRS, which could lead to a second Fielding Bible Award and second Gold Glove Award in the last three seasons for him. Meanwhile, Adrian Gonzalez, Mark Teixeira, and Albert Pujols continue the strong glovework they have shown through most of their careers. One of the latter two will likely capture the AL Gold Glove, however it is interesting to note that Miguel Cabrera is enjoying his best defensive season.

Second Basemen: Ian Kinsler was a hard-luck silver medalist in the Fielding Bible Award at second base in 2014, but with injuries limiting back-to-back winner Dustin Pedroia to 85 games—and potentially affecting his play—Kinsler seems a shoe-in to win his first Fielding Bible Award and Gold Glove. In the NL, Dee Gordon’s first season in Miami has gone very well both offensively and defensively, and he paces the DRS leaderboard in his new league by four runs. Behind both players, the major contenders are less-established players like Logan Forsythe, Addison Russell, and Carlos Sanchez.

Third Basemen: New blood has taken over on defense at third base as the old generation of elite defensive players like David Wright and Evan Longoria has been replaced by players like Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado. Both Arenado and Machado have been terrific defensively again this season, and I see Arenado as the favorite to win both the Fielding Bible Award and the NL Gold Glove. However, long-time defensive wizard Adrian Beltre turned back the clock this season for the Rangers. His 18 Runs Saved lead the position this season, and his 191 career DRS leads all players since BIS began tracking the statistic in 2003. It would be great to see Beltre win his fifth Fielding Bible Award and a fifth Gold Glove.

Shortstops: Andrelton Simmons has been the best defensive player in baseball since he first reached the majors in 2012, so it’s a huge compliment to both Brandon Crawford of the Giants and Nick Ahmed of the Diamondbacks that they have managed to keep pace with him in DRS this season. Still, it seems voters would need to be bored with Simmons’ excellence to give the Fielding Bible Award or NL Gold Glove to anyone else. Meanwhile, all three of the shortstop DRS leaders play in the NL, which makes the AL Gold Glove race much more contested. With few full-season players standing out, I think midseason call-up Francisco Lindor has the edge. Lindor has saved seven runs in just 87 games this season and has been the biggest piece of the Indians’ defensive turnaround that has them within 4.5 games of the second AL Wild Card.