Three Red Sox players, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Caleb Durbin, just landed Gold Glove nominations this week. Honestly, if you’ve been watching, you knew these names were coming. Having a third of your defense made up of young, elite fielders is an awesome thing, even if a couple of these guys still have some question marks at the plate. The real question now, though, is who’s actually going to take home the hardware, and does anyone have a real shot at the Platinum Glove?
Ceddanne Rafaela: The AL’s Top Outfielder?
Ceddanne Rafaela and Pete Crowe-Armstrong are probably going to be battling for the title of Baseball’s Best Defensive Centerfielder for a long time. This year, PCA finished way out in front by Fielding Run Value with a league-leading 26 Outs-above-average. Rafaela was still elite, though, snagging a ninth-place 16 OAA, which was second among all outfielders. Here’s the kicker: PCA plays in the National League. Ceddy’s 16 OAA were tops among ALL AL outfielders. He was third overall in the AL behind only two shortstops, Bobby Witt, Jr. with 24 OAA and Ezequiel Duran with 17. That’s some serious company to keep! This guy made six plays with a catch probability of 10 percent or less, including one where he covered 76 feet in 4.1 seconds. Talk about flying around the park!
Wilyer Abreu’s Baffling Defensive Stats
Now, Wilyer Abreu’s numbers are a whole different story. He finished this year with just 2 OAA, way down from his 8 last year, putting him at 41st among all outfielders. He didn’t even make a single play with a catch probability below 20 percent, forget the insane five-percenters Rafaela was tracking down. But here’s the thing: we all know range isn’t Wilyer’s best defensive attribute, his arm is the absolute cannon. So, with those OAA numbers looking rough, you’d think Abreu has no shot at defending his Gold Glove or even eyeing the Platinum, right? Not so fast. OAA is just one of the two big defensive stats that people online chatter about. The other one is Defensive Runs Saved. And guess what? Abreu LED ALL OF BASEBALL this year with 28 DRS. He finished 5 DRS ahead of second-place Bryce Turang, 7 ahead of his teammate Ceddanne Rafaela, and a whopping 12 ahead of PCA! How can two metrics, both supposedly measuring a player’s fielding value, be so wildly different? Nobody knows! Everyone just picks the one that helps them prove whatever point they’re trying to make.
So, what does this all mean for the hardware? Will Rafaela’s elite OAA as the top AL outfielder be enough, or will Abreu’s absolutely wild, league-leading DRS secure him the Gold Glove despite his OAA dip? This Gold Glove race is seriously tough to call, and we’ll be watching closely to see who gets to take home the trophies.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Over the Monster.
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