San Francisco Giants: Predicting 2018 NL Gold Glove Winners

Finalist for the 2018 Gold Glove awards were announced recently with Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford among the finalist for the San Francisco Giants.

The San Francisco Giants catcher and shortstop are no strangers to the Gold Glove award with four between the two of them.

I was kind of surprised to see that Posey only has one, but Yadier Molina has a stranglehold on the award for catchers on reputation alone.

Catcher: 

Those two were among the finalist for catchers again this year with the Brewers Manny Pina joining the mix. As much as it will pain San Francisco Giants fan, Molina will win his eighth Gold Glove this year.

He did a great job with a very young pitching staff in St. Louis, and it helps that he was on the field more than Posey, but not by much.

First Base: 

A lot of San Francisco Giants fans feel like Brandon Belt got snubbed in this category, but he really didn’t play enough for consideration. Freddie Freeman, Anthony Rizzo, and Joey Votto are the finalist.

As someone who watches a lot of Braves games, no one deserves this award more than Freeman. I would be shocked, and a little upset, if he doesn’t win it this year.

Second Base: 

There probably won’t be much debate at this position with Javier Baez in the mix, but DJ LeMahieu and Kolten Wong are strong candidates as well.

I personally think Baez’ ability as a defender is way overrated. Yes, he makes a ton of the flashy SportsCenter plays, but he also makes a bunch of bone-headed plays if you watch him enough. I would personally give the award to Wong who was outstanding defensively this year, but on perception alone, Baez will win this one in a landslide.

Shortstop: 

This may be the best shot at the San Francisco Giants winning a postseason award. Crawford will go up against Nick Ahmed and Freddy Galvis for this award.

In my opinion, it comes down to Ahmed and Crawford, and I would be mildly surprised if Crawford does win his fourth straight Gold Glove. His consistency at the position is unmatched.

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Third Base: 

Nolan Arendao wins.

Anthony Rendon and Travis Shaw are the other finalists.

Left Field: 

This is a really weird group of finalists with Corey Dickerson, Adam Duvall, and Christian Yelich in the mix.

Duvall only played two-thirds of a season as he was atrocious after being traded to the Braves and never saw the field.

Yelich should win this one pretty easily.

Center Field: 

This might be the most competitive position group in the National League. Lorenzo Cain, Billy Hamilton, and Ender Inciarte are all great defenders.

I think it comes down to Hamilton and Inciarete. The later has won it the last two years, but I think Hamilton steals it from him this year.

Right Field: 

This one should come down to Jason Heyward and Nick Markakis with Jon Jay the one left out of the mix.

I know this one will probably go to Heyward on reputation as he’s won four in a row and five of the last six at this position, but if you watched Markakis every day like I did then you would know he deserves to win it this year.

The winners will be announced on November 4, and here’s to hoping the San Francisco Giants pick up two more Gold Glove awards.