2 Dodgers Among Finalists for Major End of Season Awards

Sep 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates with catcher Will Smith (16) at the end of the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Sep 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates with catcher Will Smith (16) at the end of the game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Rawlings announced its Gold Glove finalists for the National League and American League on Tuesday with the Los Angeles Dodgers claiming two finalists.

Catcher Will Smith and utility man Kiké Hernández each placed in the top three of their respective positions.

It had to be a no-brainer for Smith to be a finalist because he leads the National League with a 33.33 percent caught stealing rate. He led the NL throwing out 32 potential base stealers.

San Francisco Giants’ Patrick Bailey and Gabriel Moreno of the Arizona Diamondbacks are the other two catching finalists for the National League.

With Hernández, it was more of a surprise. He has played six different positions this season — first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, and center field. He even made four pitching appearances.

The fan favorite has never won a Gold Glove before and is up against Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals and Jared Triolo of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

This year marks the third consecutive year that the Dodgers have had multiple Gold Glove finalists.

Mookie Betts, David Peralta and Freddie Freeman were all finalists while it was Betts and Tyler Anderson in 2022.

Betts has been the only winner and it was for right field in 2022.

Before the season began, Betts had a goal to win a Gold Glove at shortstop but several errors early on combined with a fractured hand derailed those expectations. He also failed to play the minimum requirement of inning to be a finalist in right field.

According to a press release, the 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team vote from a pool of players in their league, excluding players from their own team to select the winners. These votes comprise 75 percent of the selection total, with the SABR Defensive Index counting for the other 25 percent.

Rawlings collaborated with SABR to create a specialized defensive formula separate from the traditional selection process to determine the finalists for the utility position.

Here is a complete list of the Gold Glove finalists:

Winners will be unveiled on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” on Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m. PT.


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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite growing up in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer at the LA Sports Report Network.