Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward are two of baseball's best defenders at their respective positions. This offseason, they have a chance to take home some hardware for their efforts.
Thursday, Rawlings announced that Rizzo (first base) and Heyward (right field) are National League Gold Glove Award finalists. Christian Walker (Diamondbacks) and Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals) are the other first baseman finalists; Bryce Harper (Phillies) and Cody Bellinger (Dodgers) are the other right field candidates.
Rizzo is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner — 2016 and 2018 (he tied with Freddie Freeman in the latter) — and finished second in the 2013 voting. Heyward is a five-time winner (2012, 2014-17) while also being a finalist in 2013 and 2018.
Rizzo ranked sixth among qualified NL first baseman with three Defensive Runs Saved, though he and Goldschmidt tied for the least number of errors made with five.
Among NL right fielders with 600 innings played, Heyward finished third in DRS (seven), trailing Bellinger (19) and Harper (9). However, he moved to the center field on a near-full-time basis after the Cubs acquired Nick Castellanos at the trade deadline, only playing right in late-game situations, where the Cubs employed their best defensive units.
Overall, Heyard made 63 starts in right and 74 in center, though he played 105 games in right and and 84 in center overall.
Javier Báez is noticably absent from the NL shortstop finalist group, which features Paul DeJong (Cardinals), Trevor Story (Rockies) and Nick Ahmed (Diamondbacks). Báez's 15 DRS was third among NL shortstops behind Ahmed and Story, but his 15 errors was fourth-most.
