Two Chicago Cubs have a chance to receive another golden honor.
Left fielder Ian Happ and shortstop Dansby Swanson were named National League Gold Glove Award finalists at their respective positions. Rawlings announced three finalists for each position in both leagues on Tuesday. The winners will be revealed Nov. 3.
Happ and Swanson have both won Gold Glove Awards for the last two years. Second baseman Nico Hoerner, who won his first award last year, won’t have a chance to repeat as Brice Turang (Milwaukee), Bryson Stott (Philadelphia) and Ketel Marte (Arizona) are the NL finalists.
Happ is up against Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Arizona) and Brandon Marsh (Philadelphia) while Swanson is joined as a finalist by Ezequiel Tovar (Colorado) and Masyn Winn (St. Louis).
Happ’s 11 outfield assists led all left fielders and were tied for second-most among big-league outfielders. He logged the most innings at his position and committed just one error. His 7 defensive runs saved (DRS) and 12.2 ultimate zone rating (UZR) topped NL left fielders.
After being hampered by a knee injury early in the season, Swanson’s defensive performance, especially in the second half, was outstanding. Swanson led all qualified MLB shortstops by tallying only five errors, including just two fielding errors, and his 18 outs above average (OAA) were the most among any shortstop. Swanson’s 7 DRS ranked third in the NL behind Tovar and Winn, and he finished third in UZR.
Rookie center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong built a good case to earn a finalist spot, though those ultimately went to Brenton Doyle (Colorado), Blake Perkins (Milwaukee) and Jacob Young (Washington). Crow-Armstrong’s 12 DRS tied for the most among MLB center fielders, and his eight assists matched Doyle and Jackson Merrill (San Diego) for most at the position in the NL. Early-season time in the minors, though, limited Crow-Armstrong to 109 starts in center field.
