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| photo courtesy of @Indians on twitter |
no Cleveland Indian has won a Gold Glove since 2008 when Grady Sizemore won the AL CF Gold Glove, and no Cleveland shortstop has won since Omar Vizquel in 2001. Lindor, age 22, is the youngest middle infielder in franchise history to win a Gold Glove, and the youngest Indians player to win one since a 21-year old
Rick Manning took home a CF Gold Glove in 1976, according to Jordan Bastian's article on indians.com.
besides that, Lindor is also the youngest shortstop in Major League Baseball to win a Gold Glove since 22-year old Alan Trammell won in 1980 with the Detroit Tigers. and so, Lindor joins Trammell as the only shortstops under the age of 23 to win Gold Gloves per Elias Sports via Bastian.
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| photo courtesy of @Lindor12BC |
the Gold Glove has been awarded annually since 1957 to MLB players based on their defensive performances. however, it is not based solely on metrics and stats. managers and coaches vote within their league but not for players on their own team, and that counts for 75% of each selection. the other 25% comes from a sabermetric statistic provided by the Society for American Baseball Research.
Lindor was named a finalist for the award along with Jose Iglesias of the Detroit Tigers and Andrelton Simmons of the Los Angeles Angels on October 27. here are some fielding #s of the three finalists at short in 2016:
Lindor: 17 DRS/20.8 UZR/27.8 Def/215 putouts/447 assists/12 errors/83 double plays/.982 fielding % in 1364.2 innings and 155 games
Iglesias: 3 DRS/11.6 UZR/17.6 Def/180 putouts/389 assists/5 errors/92 double plays/.991 fielding % in 1163.0 innings and 136 games
Simmons: 18 DRS/15.4 UZR/20.8 Def/198 putouts/337 assists/10 errors/82 double plays/.982 fielding % in 1045.0 innings and 124 games
as you can see, Lindor finished the year 1st in UZR (ultimate zone rating) and Def (fielding runs above average + positional adjustment), and 2nd in DRS (defensive runs saved). he did commit the most errors of the three, but he also played the most innings and games.
what these numbers don't show are all the outstanding, jaw-dropping, web gem worthy plays that Lindor made this season. the kid is a marvel at short, he really is and that's not me just being a homer. and this was only his sophomore year in the bigs. just wait, because he's going to get even better if you can believe it.
when interviewed during the live ESPN reveal show, Lindor said, "it's an honor, it's a blessing, and i thank you, i thank the people for uh, Rawlings, coaching staff, and teammates throughout the year that helped me. it's an honor, it's a blessing. just to be here and be nominated and now win, it's huge. words can't describe how happy i am right now and i can't wait to show it off to my pops.
"...the instincts i have, my hands and everything, i owe it to him and my brother and my cousin. they're the three guys that helped me the most growing up. ...along the way, there's a lot of people that helped me throughout my career, i can't forget about them, but my pops is unbelievable. everything i know, most of the things i know, i owe it to him." (a short video clip can be found on espn.com here.)
so congrats once again to Francisco Lindor! it certainly was a well-deserved win. and something tells me this won't be his last Gold Glove... ;D
EDIT: the Gold Glove Awards Ceremony was held on November 11 in Manhattan, NY at The Plaza. while there, Lindor also won the Rawlings' 2016 AL Platinum Glove Award, according to Joe Trezza's indians.com article. this award is given to the best overall defensive player in each league and is based on a combination of fan voting and the SABR Defensive Index.
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| photo courtesy of @Lindor12BC |
Lindor is the first Indians player in history to win a Platinum Glove, and he's the youngest player ever to win one in the six years it's been awarded, per Paul Hoynes' cleveland.com article. his 18.5 SDI in 2016 led all American League shortstops.
congratulations once again, Frankie!
leave a comment below with your favorite Lindor memory of 2016!
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