The winners of the 2022 Gold Glove Awards in MLB were revealed on Tuesday.
The Gold Glove Award rewards defensive prowess in each league, recognizing one player at each position.
It was a successful round of awards for the New York Yankees, which had two winners: catcher Jose Trevino and utilityman DJ LeMahieu.
Both players’ achievements were very much deserved.
Trevino led all catchers with 21 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and more than 19 Framing Runs.
LeMahieu showed how valuable he can be in a multi-positional role in the infield, as he can effectively cover first, second, and third base despite being a second baseman by trade.
The Yankees broke a 10-year drought in the process, as they didn’t have multiple winners since 2012.
The first time since 2012 that the Yankees have had multiple Gold Glove Award winners! pic.twitter.com/NL7UnIjM5P
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) November 1, 2022
That year, Mark Teixeira was crowned as the American League’s best defensive first baseman, and Robinson Cano took the crown at second base.
The Yankees were the best defensive team in MLB this year by the numbers.
The Yankees Had Some Really Good Fielders In 2022
You could make a case that some other players deserved Gold Gloves, too.
Andrew Benintendi could have won in left field, and Aaron Judge and Josh Donaldson were magnificent and weren’t even named as finalists.
Harrison Bader and Anthony Rizzo have excellent defensive reputations, and Gleyber Torres had a fantastic fielding season after being moved to second.
Defense is an important part of the game, especially these days in which analytics place so much importance in quantity and quality of contact.
Having fielders with excellent range can go a long way in preventing runs from scoring.
The Yankees understood that and put together a solid defensive team.
Unfortunately for them, it came at the expense of some offense, especially in the postseason.
Their challenge will be improving the offense while maintaining some defensive efficiency.