Oakland Athletics’ Sonny Gray and Josh Reddick Gold Glove Finalists
Today, the 2015 Rawlings Gold Glove finalists were announced and two Oakland Athletics made the list – Sonny Gray and Josh Reddick. Both had stellar seasons and deserve this recognition. Let’s take a look back at their defense this past year and see what their chances are of winning a 2015 Gold Glove.
When it comes to defense on the mound, Sonny is one of the best. Gray was even named to the Rawlings NCAA Division I Gold Glove Team while he was pitching at Vanderbilt University. This season with the Oakland Athletics, Gray maintained a 1.00 fielding percentage and completed 37 putouts and 23 assists.
Gray is up against two left handed pitchers – Toronto Blue Jays’ Mark Buehrle and Houston Astros’ Dallas Keuchel. Buehrle is very familiar with this award since he won four consecutive Gold Gloves from 2009-2012. However, this season was not a good one for Buehrle. He made three fielding errors as a pitcher and only completed 11 putouts. Keuchel won last year’s Gold Glove award. In 2015, completed 53 assists, but only made 18 putouts and committed one error. That being said, Gray looks like the front runner and he could have a pretty good chance of earning his first Gold Glove award at the MLB level.
Now for Reddick, who is a finalist for right field. Reddick is no stranger when it comes to the Rawlings Gold Glove awards. He won the American League Gold Glove for right field back in 2012. Reddick is known for his outstanding fielding skills and has been dubbed the spiderman of the outfield for his ability to scale walls. This season, Reddick made just five errors – the same amount he committed in 2012 – and completed 257 putouts.
Reddick is up against Los Angeles Angels’ Kole Calhoun and Detroit Tigers’ J.D. Martinez. In 2015, Calhoun only committed four errors and had a .989 fielding percentage. Martinez was even better in right this season with a .993 fielding percentage. He committed just two errors and even assisted in three double plays. Despite making some replay worthing defensive plays this year, Reddick is the underdog out of these three. The chances of him winning his second Gold Glove is probably slim.
The Oakland Athletics are known for having players on their roster who have plus defensive skills. It is great to see that some of them are getting recognized. The Rawlings Gold Glove awards are voted on by the coaches and managers. There is also a statistical component. Hopefully they recognize the success these A’s players have had defensively this season even though they are part of a small market team.