Has a relief pitcher ever won a Gold Glove?

[Frobby]

Because honestly, Cano is as good a defensive pitcher as I’ve seen.   He induces a lot of grounders and knows he’s got to be ready to field balls, and he does, with catlike quickness and athleticism.  

[spleen1015]

Found this post - https://blogs.fangraphs.com/early-gold-glove-contenders-relief-pitchers/

Looked at 2012-2023 and I don't see any relievers.

Edited May 4 by spleen1015

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, spleen1015 said:

Found this post - https://blogs.fangraphs.com/early-gold-glove-contenders-relief-pitchers/

Looked at 2012-2023 and I don't see any relievers.

OK, so it’s never happened.  FWIW, last year Cano had 20 assists, tied for 10th in MLB.  All nine ahead of him threw at least 52 innings more than Cano’s 72.  Cano had far more assists per inning than anyone ahead of him on the list.  And, he made no errors.  I’m not going to press the GG case too hard, but I just wanted to call out his excellence as a defender.  

[Mooreisbetter27]

I said something about his defense early last year. He is a fantastic defender. Very quick off the mound to pounce on balls. Early on last year I think his throwing was a little off but generally the fielder caught the ball. Seems like he’s ironed that part out as well. 

[baltfan]

I love this thread.  It would be great if this narrative about Cano being a gold glover could make its way to an influential site like Fangraphs or other places.  Cano is an excellent athlete and doesn't get the credit for it.  

[Malike]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

Because honestly, Cano is as good a defensive pitcher as I’ve seen.   He induces a lot of grounders and knows he’s got to be ready to field balls, and he does, with catlike quickness and athleticism.  

If Palmiero can win one with 28 games played at 1B, I'd think they should qualify.

[interloper]

The fadeaway jump shot throw was so good. Right on the money too. 

[Morgan423]

Wouldn't giving Gold Gloves to relief pitchers further devalue the award?

I mean, a starter who is a position player is in nearly every game, for 9 innings a game.  You can't say that a relief pitcher who's in games for 2-8 innings a week is equally worthy. 

[waroriole]

Sounds like Cano needs to take grounders at SS. 

[Malike]

18 minutes ago, waroriole said:

Sounds like Cano needs to take grounders at SS. 

They'd have to play Adley at 1B to catch all the sinkers lol.

[Bahama O's Fan]

3 hours ago, baltfan said:

I love this thread.  It would be great if this narrative about Cano being a gold glover could make its way to an influential site like Fangraphs or other places.  Cano is an excellent athlete and doesn't get the credit for it.  

This is what is needed. O's fans, make it a campaign. Call in to radio shows, comment on articles, email, text etc... on national sites

[JimGinSP]

1 hour ago, Morgan423 said:

Wouldn't giving Gold Gloves to relief pitchers further devalue the award?

I mean, a starter who is a position player is in nearly every game, for 9 innings a game.  You can't say that a relief pitcher who's in games for 2-8 innings a week is equally worthy. 

Not many starters pitch 6 innings a game these days much less 9.  However, it would seem likely that there would always be at least one successful starter that would get more votes than a reliever because the starter would have 3x the chances.  It is always a good discussion when a dominant reliever is considered for Cy Young.  Really, a GG seems more difficult to win.

Edited May 4 by JimGinSP

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, Morgan423 said:

Wouldn't giving Gold Gloves to relief pitchers further devalue the award?

I mean, a starter who is a position player is in nearly every game, for 9 innings a game.  You can't say that a relief pitcher who's in games for 2-8 innings a week is equally worthy. 

I think that Gold Gloves for pitchers are:

a) a little silly

b) for most of the history of the award based on not much more than reading chicken entrails

Does anyone who's thought about this for more than eight second really believe that Greg Maddux and Jim Kaat were actually the very best fielding pitchers in the league for 15 or 17 or whatever straight years? That they never had an off year, and all that time legitimately beat out the other 50 or 100 starting pitchers in the league? That's as absurd as someone leading the league in homers for 17 straight years, or in putouts at shortstop, or in OPS for 17 straight years. Nobody, not Ruth, not Aaron, not Mays, not Mantle, not Trout... none of them did anything like that.

So, devalue? It's almost a made-up award anyway.

Anyone want to guess John Means' career high in fielding chances in a season? 100? 50? Nope, 15. Means was responsible for five putouts and 10 assists in 155 innings in 2019. Or one chance per 10 innings, give or take. Mark Reynolds, even in the midst of his Legally Blind phase, never fielded fewer than twice that number of balls per game.

Now... Cano did field 3.1 chances per nine innings last year, and has never made an error. He was involved in 25 successful plays in the field in 2023. But I still think he has essentially no chance at a Gold Glove. But I guess weirder things have happened.

What he'd be up against is first nobody really has a good idea which pitchers are great at fielding, but also that someone like Patrick Corbin of the Nats fielded twice as many balls as Cano last year because he's out there so much longer. And I'm not sure anyone is going to buy into the idea of weighting pitcher fielding chances by leverage index for relievers.

Edited May 4 by DrungoHazewood

[jabba72]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

Because honestly, Cano is as a defensive pitcher as I’ve seen.   He induces a lot of grounders and knows he’s got to be ready to field balls, and he does, with catlike quickness and athleticism.  

Yea his asisist last night was impressive. Those are the type of plays that get some recognition, not that a relief pitcher has much of a shot at winning a GG. Seems unlikely even though Cano could get 70 innings again this year.  Make a few more plays like that and then it becomes a situation IMO. 

[spiritof66]

The thing I don't like about Cano's fielding is that sometimes when he fields balls, usually little dribblers beyond the catcher's range, and then throws off-balance, I respond instinctively by saying (aloud or to myself) "Don't throw it" because there seems to be no chance for an out. But he swoops in, makes an accurate 90 MPH throw, and gets the out.

So I have to confront the fact that I was wrong and unable to update my split-second reaction by realizing it's a play I've seen Cano make. I don't like that.

The guy's amazing.