Major League Baseball announced the nominees for the Gold Glove Awards.
Nolan Arenado, Matt Chapman, Sean Murphy and Mookie Betts are some of the names we would expect. All of them are worthy of being recognized. There is also Juan Soto.
The outfielder is not a good player. He's not bad. He's below average. In terms of outs above average, he had the worst mark of his career. Of the 38 qualified right fielders, Soto was the worst by five runs. Nicholas Castellanos recorded a -10OAA this year. Ronald Acua Jr. was the next one to post. How do I know?
A player needs to meet certain qualifications in order to get a Gold Glove. The requirements for infielders and outfielders are about seven and a half hours per game. I don't get paid enough to do that for every individual player so I don't look that information up. The qualification states that all infielders and outfielders with at least 698 total hours played qualify at their manager's preferred position.
There were 39 National League outfielders who qualified for a Gold Glove in the year 2022. The majority of them worked as right fielders.
There is a place where Soto ranks among every qualified NL right fielder.
In terms of pure fielding percentage, he was alright, but that was the only category where he was above average.
I think I should explain the rating to the public. A player's arm strength is a measure. I can tell you why the rating is so low, but I can't tell you how it happened. According to BaseballSavant, among all right fielders in MLB, Soto's average throw was 85.8 miles per hour when attempting to throw out a runner. He is the 40th qualified right fielder. The hardest ball to throw from the outfield was thrown by Soto. He is tied with Houston's Kyle Tucker for 35th best. The low velocities on Soto's throws explain why he played the most hours of any qualified NL right fielder, but still had the lowest outfield assists.
The man isn't fast. He doesn't have a lot of range. He doesn't have a great arm and isn't the most sure-handed. He would be the perfect designated hitter if he wasn't so young.
I don't want to be confused. This isn't making me angry. I think he is my favorite player in baseball. He doesn't deserve to be a Gold Glove finalist and I'll be damned if he wins the award. It would be a travesty to compare this to the Palmeiro disaster or any of the other Gold Gloves. They can still do the right thing. If he doesn't win the award, I'll forgive everything. We should abolish the gold glove if Soto walks away with the hardware. You know it is true, no matter how big of a fan you are.
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