The Milwaukee Brewers were one of baseball’s best defensive teams in 2023. They finished first overall in outs above average with 42 and second in defensive runs saved with 69. With collectively excelling it would be reasonable to assume that multiple Brewers would be in contention for Gold Glove awards. Unfortunately that is not the case as only Carlos Santana was named a finalist.
One big downfall for multiple Brewers was the total number of innings that they played. Players like Joey Wiemer, Blake Perkins, and Brice Turang were all strong defensively but between either playing multiple positions, injuries, serving in platoon roles, and stints in the minor leagues they didn’t have near the innings totals as finalists at their respective positions.
Despite the differences in innings let’s take a look at three players who were snubbed from gold glove contention.
Three Milwaukee Brewers players who were snubbed from 2023 Gold Glove contention.
- Brewers Gold Glove Snub #1: C William Contreras
William Contreras had an exceptional year during his first season behind the dish for the Brewers. He was among the leaders in pitch framing measures and allowed just two past balls all season. The biggest things working against him include 11 total errors and a caught stealing percentage of just 17. He arguably should have been named a finalist over J.T. Realmuto, who had an uncharacteristically poor defensive season behind home plate.
- Brewers Gold Glove Snub #2: 2B Brice Turang
To the eye test Brice Turang is a gold glove caliber player. On paper he has the statistics to back up his case, or at least put him in the running as a finalist. His 12 defensive runs saved and 1.6 double plays above average were the best in the National League. Finalists Nico Hoerner, Ha-Seong Kim, and Bryson Stott finished behind him in both of these important categories.
- Brewers Gold Glove Snub #3: SS Willy Adames
Willy Adames had a great year at shortstop for the Brewers. His eight defensive runs saved were the third most in the National League and he finished tied for the second best UZR (Arm + double play + range + errors above average) with Dansby Swanson. It would have been nice to see Willy Adames recognized as a finalist along side Dansby Swansong and Francisco Lindor.
2023 Rawling’s Gold Glove award winners will be officially announced on November 5.
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