ST. LOUIS — San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman won his fifth Gold Glove and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was among 14 first-time winners of baseball’s most famous fielding honor.
Cleveland second baseman Andrés Giménez and left fielder Steven Kwan won for the third consecutive year along with Arizona first baseman Christian Walker and Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ, Rawlings announced Sunday.
Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle won for the second straight season.
Six teams had two Gold Gloves winners each, with the Guardians joined by Colorado, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Francisco and Seattle.
AL first-time winners in addition to Witt include Royals pitcher Seth Lugo, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, Minnesota first baseman Carlos Santana, Houston third baseman Alex Bregman, Toronto center fielder Daulton Varsho, Boston right fielder Wilyer Abreu and Mariners utilityman Dylan Moore.
NL first-time winners included Atlanta pitcher Chris Sale, Giants catcher Patrick Bailey, Milwaukee second baseman Brice Turang and right fielder Sal Frelick, Colorado shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and Pittsburgh utilityman Jared Triolo.
Bregman earned a $50,000 bonus, Giménez, Lugo, Moore and Witt $50,000 and Santana $25,000.
There also were 14 first-time winners in 2022.
Voting was conducted among managers and up to six coaches from each team, who can’t select players on their own club. Since 2013, voting has been factored with a Society for American Baseball Research defensive index, which comprises about 25% of the total.
The utility category is based on a SABR formula and additional defensive statistics.
