ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The St. Louis Cardinals have three players who were named finalists for a Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2020. First baseman Paul Goldschimdt, second baseman Kolten Wong and left fielder Tyler O'Neill were announced as finalists on Thursday.
Goldy's fellow finalists are Brandon Belt of San Francisco and Anthony Rizzo of Chicago. Wong is facing Adam Frazier of Pittsburgh and Nico Hoerner of Chicago.
O'Neill is up against Shogo Akiyama of Cincinnati and David Peralta of Arizona.
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The winners will be named by a slightly different process this season, as it will be based solely on the SABR Defensive Index™ (SDI). In past years, MLB managers and up to six coaches on each team's staff also get to vote and the sabermetric component comprises of about 25% of the overall selection total.
Wong is looking for his second career Gold Glove after winning his first last season. He led all National League second baseman in games played (53), assists (129) and double plays turned (29).
His Defensive Runs Above Average (DEF) is No. 1 among all NL second baseman at 4.5. The next closest is Frazier at 2.4.
If Goldschmidt wins it would be his fourth career Gold Glove, after winning three during his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks (2013, 2015, 2017). He was No. 2 in the NL in double plays turned (41), behind only Freddie Freeman of Atlanta (44).
His DEF was third-best in the NL at -2.2. Rizzo had the best DEF at -0.2.
O'Neill is up for his first Gold Glove and was No. 3 in all of baseball for Total Zone Runs, which is the number of runs above average the player was worth based on the number of plays made. O'Neill's 10 were behind only Mookie Betts' 11 in the NL.
He also made zero errors and lead all NL left fielders in putouts with 89.
The winners will not be announced until after the World Series.
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