House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves: The scope of Josh Donaldson’s impact

By Alex Burke

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 06: Third baseman Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates in the dugout with an umbrella after hitting a 2-run home run in the seventh inning during the game against the Washington Nationals at SunTrust Park on September 06, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 06: Third baseman Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates in the dugout with an umbrella after hitting a 2-run home run in the seventh inning during the game against the Washington Nationals at SunTrust Park on September 06, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 03: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves throws out the runner against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning in game one of the National League Division Series at SunTrust Park on October 03, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 03: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves throws out the runner against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning in game one of the National League Division Series at SunTrust Park on October 03, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

That glove was golden

To the shock of nobody who got to watch him man the hot corner in 2019, Donaldson was named a finalist for the 2019 Rawlings Gold Glove Award on Thursday.

This development turned out to be one of the most pleasant surprises of the season for Atlanta as it was widely speculated that Donaldson, coming off calf injuries in his age-32 season, would be a step down from Johan Camargo with the glove.

Not only was there no step down, but there’s also a legitimate chance the Braves bring home their first Gold Glove at the position since Terry Pendleton earned one in 1992.

NL managers and coaching staffs vote on who wins the award, so Atlanta Braves country can only hope that the powers that be find a computer and do their due diligence before just penciling in Nolan Arenado for the hundredth straight time or giving Anthony Rendon the nod because he had a good season at the plate, too.

After Brandon Crawford won the NL shortstop award over Andrelton Simmons in 2015, Braves fans may have trouble relinquishing the benefit of the doubt in this particular scenario.

However, there is a legitimate case to be made for Donaldson, who has never won the award before.

Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) paints Donaldson in the best light. With multiple components involved including range, double play aptitude, and play on bunts, Fielding Bible calculates the metric to find the best overall defensive player at each position.

With a 15 DRS, Donaldson saved his team 15 more runs than the average third baseman would.

In this particular stat, Donaldson lapped the field. As Alan Carpenter mentioned in his breakdown of how Donaldson stacks up against Rendon and Arenado, he nearly doubles Arenado’s 8 DRS and beats Rendon’s 2 DRS easily.

The other advanced stats, including UZR (ultimate zone rating) are more kind to Arenado, who has clearly won the Gold Glove six straight times for a reason, but it should be noted that Arenado did lead the NL in DRS five of the six years that he won the award.

Even if Donaldson doesn’t win the award, Braves fans and the Atlanta Braves brass alike had plenty reason to be thrilled about the type of production that he provided on the defensive side.

Home/Braves News