On Tuesday, the winners of the 2019 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards were announced on MLB Network. Gold Gloves were handed out on Sunday, but Wilson has their own line of defensive awards. The differences between the two are that the Wilson awards are not as widely hailed and there’s only one winner at each position as opposed to the one from each league (two total) for the Gold Glove. The winners are determined by a formula that takes into account scouting information, basic fielding stats, and more advanced (Sabermetric) stats.
Your winners:
First base: Freddie Freeman, Braves
Second base: Kolten Wong, Cardinals
Shortstop: Andrelton Simmons, Angels
Third base: Matt Chapman, Athletics
Left field: David Peralta, Diamondbacks
Center field: Lorenzo Cain, Brewers
Right field: Aaron Judge, Yankees
Catcher: Roberto Pérez, Indians
Pitcher: Zack Greinke, Astros
These awards and the Gold Gloves disagreed on Freeman, Simmons, and Judge as each did not win Gold Glove Awards but won hardware tonight.
The Astros were named the best overall defensive team. Given that defensive stats, even Sabermetric ones, are notoriously unreliable in one-year samples, it’s difficult to definitively argue for one team over another. That being said, the Athletics and Diamondbacks seemed like better candidates for the award from this writer’s point of view.
Pérez was named the overall defensive player of the year. Baseball Reference credited him with being 18 runs above average defensively, contributing heavily to his 3.9 WAR. He threw out runners at an American League-high 41 percent clip (29-for-49).
In case you haven’t had your fill of defensive awards yet, the Platinum Gloves will be announced on Friday night. You can help vote on them here.