HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña and right fielder Kyle Tucker were named American League Gold Glove Award finalists, Rawlings announced on Thursday.
Peña joins Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox and Carlos Correa of the Minnesota Twins, who on the award in 2021 with the Astros. According to FanGraphs, Peña led all American League shortstops with 15 defensive runs saved in 2022 and he was fourth in Baseball Savant's outs above average metric.
Tucker is looking for his first Gold Glove despite being named a finalist for the third straight year. He led all American League right fielders with 13 defensive runs saved, per FanGraphs, and he was third in outs above average. The Minnesota Twins Max Kepler, and Jackie Bradley Jr, who split the season between Boston and Toronto, are the other finalists.
"Defense is work," Astros manager Dusty Baker, a Gold Glove winner in 1981, said. "You have to work on defense more than offense. You go to a Little League game, everybody wants to hit. And as soon as they get through hitting they're ready to go home, so defense is work. My greatest thrill almost of my life is to get a Gold Glove. It's on my mantle and it means that I worked."
Winners will be announced on November 1 and are voted on by managers and coaches, which accounts for 75 percent of how the award is determined, with the other 25 percent coming for the SABR Defensive Index.