Javy Baez among 3 Cubs named as finalists for NL Gold Glove Awards

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We're about to settle the debate of who's the better fielder between Javy Baez and Kolten Wong...at least at second base.

Both players were named finalists along with Colorado's D.J. LeMahieu for the 2018 National League Gold Glove Award at second base.

Anthony Rizzo is also a finalist at first base, alongside Cincinnati's Joey Votto and Atlanta's Freddie Freeman.

St. Louis' Wong was very outspoken earlier this season in the belief he should win the coveted fielding award. He led baseball with 19 Defensive Runs Saved at second base in only 896.2 innings. LeMahieu was second at 18 DRS in 1,115 innings.

Baez ranked 12th with 5 DRS in 699.2 innings while he also saw a lot of times at shortstop and third base, where he saved a combined 4 runs by FanGraphs' metric. 

Joe Maddon has often said baseball should have a Gold Glove Award for utility players that see time at a variety of different positions and if that ever happened, Baez would be the clear frontrunner. 2018 seems to be more proof of that, as it would be hard to see him take home the 2B Gold Glove Award with nearly 200 fewer innings at the position than Wong.

Rizzo was 8th in baseball with 4 DRS, behind Freeman (3rd at 12 DRS) and Votto (4th at 9 DRS). 

Jason Heyward is a finalist at right field in the NL, alongside Arizona's Jon Jay and Atlanta's Nick Markakis. Heyward saved 3 defensive runs in right field in 851 innings in 2018; it was the first year he finished below 10 DRS at the position (he tallied 32 DRS in right field in his first two seasons with the Cubs). He also was credited with 3 DRS in 154.1 innings in center field.

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