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Atlanta Braves Gold Glove candidates stacked up against the rest – part 2

By Fred Owens

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 04: Gold golves on display before the game bewteen the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day at Dodger Stadium on April 4, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 04: Gold golves on display before the game bewteen the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day at Dodger Stadium on April 4, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 2: Ozzie Albies #1, Ronald Acuna, Jr. #13, and Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves celebrate after the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at SunTrust Park on September 2, 2018, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Atlanta Braves second baseman not nominated

Although he did qualify with 784 innings before game 143, a nomination eluded Ozzie Albies. However, unlike earlier positions, both Fielding Bible favorites for the award received a nomination.

Second Base FB Winner FBGG FBC
Kolten Wong X    
DJ LeMahieu    
Ketel Marte      
Ozzie Albies     X
Wilmer Difo      
Ben Zobrist      
Jose Pirela      
Starlin Castro      
Javier Baez   X  
Cesar Hernandez      

Statistically, it’s easy to see why the Fielding Bible liked both Wong and LeMahieu.

Second Base SDI UZR DRS INSIDE DEF FRAA Rtot
Kolten Wong 12.3 13.4 19 12TH 15.0 5.9 19
DJ LeMahieu 11.9 11.0 18 4TH 12.9 19.8 18
Ketel Marte 7.7 0.6 7 8TH 2.3 6.3 7
Ozzie Albies 5.7 6.7 8 7TH 9.0 6.9 8
Wilmer Difo 3.8 2.5 3 13TH 4.2 4.5 3
Ben Zobrist 2.8 3.0 2 3RD 3.6 7.2 8
Jose Pirela 0.7 -2.9 -3 18TH -1.9 -1.1 1
Starlin Castro 0.2 0.5 0 11TH 2.8 -6.1 0
Javier Baez 0.0 1.2 5 19TH 2.4 2.8 10
Cesar Hernandez -2.4 -3.1 -12 10TH -0.8 3.7 -12

Albies came in a strong third across the board, but Wong and LeMahieu dominated the statistics at second base. Wong should win it, but LeMahieu would be a worthy winner as well.  Why then did John Dewan (when writing about the FB candidates) say Baez be the favorite?

The voters – coaches and managers see and remember all of the spectacular plays Baez made and his ability to put tags on runners when it seems impossible. Dewan believes that will trump the numbers,

Since none of the widely used metrics prefer Baez, we’ll know what the voters value and undoubtedly hear about how right or wrong they were for weeks.

Gold Gloves are part of Albies future.  Wong and LeMahieu are seven and ten years older than Albies respectively; they’ll get older as he gets better.

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