Royals’ Alex Gordon is once again a Gold Glove finalist. He’s joined by someone new
Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon walked off into the sunset at season’s end, but he may have some hardware to pick up on the way.
Rawlings and MLB announced the Gold Glove finalists Thursday, identifying the league’s best defensive players. Royals second baseman Nicky Lopez and Gordon were both recognized at their respective positions.
The winners will be announced on ESPN on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
A seven-time winner who announced his retirement last month, Gordon once again finds himself among the final three candidates for the American League’s top defensive left fielder. Toronto’s Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Houston’s Kyle Tucker joined Gordon as finalists.
Gordon will have a chance to match Frank White’s franchise record with an eighth Gold Glove Award.
Gordon has won the past three consecutive AL Gold Glove Awards (2017-19). He ranked first among AL left fielders in first in ultimate zone rating (UZR, 3.1), third in defensive runs saved (one), third in outfield assists (four) and had the fourth-most putouts (81).
While the Gold Glove award originated in 1957, Rawlings started announcing finalists at each position in 2011. Since then, only Gordon has been a finalist each year.
Lopez, who made his MLB debut in 2019, was named a finalist for the first time in his career. He’s one of four contenders at second base along with Cleveland’s Cesar Hernandez, Chicago’s Danny Mendick, and Detroit’s Jonathan Schoop.
Lopez led all second baseman with eight defensive runs saved, and ranked second among AL second basemen in putouts (74), assists (135) and double plays turned (34) as well as third in UZR (1.4).
Lopez also ranked ninth among all AL position players in defensive wins above replacement (0.8) as calculated by Baseball-Reference.com.
This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Royals’ Alex Gordon is once again a Gold Glove finalist. He’s joined by someone new."
