Utility Gold Glove 'Special' For Pirates' Jared Triolo
For a second straight season, a Pittsburgh Pirates player brought home some hardware for their excellence on defense.
Pittsburgh utility player Jared Triolo won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for utility players in the National League. Triolo beat out Kiké Hernández of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals to earn the accolade for the first time in his young career.
With the gold glove, Triolo joins third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes and fellow utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa as players on the Pirates who have won the award. Hayes won the award in 2023, while Kiner-Falefa got it in 2020 with the Texas Rangers for his defensive play at third base.
After Triolo won the award, he said Hayes and Kiner-Falefa were the first teammates to reach out to him.
"The first couple texts I got were from Ke'Bryan Hayes and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a couple of guys that have done it. It's awesome," Triolo said. "You look around the infield and you see a lot of super talented players. Defense next year will be a key piece for us moving forward."
Triolo also won a Gold Glove at third base in the Minor Leagues in 2021.
Triolo, 26, spent most of his 2024 season playing second base and third base. He appeared in 61 games at third base and 47 at second base. Between the two positions, the Pirates' utility player was credited with eight defensive runs saved and three outs above average by FanGraphs. Triolo also played at shortstop, first base and right field.
While there's no disputing that earning an award in the big leagues, doing so because of his defensive play at multiple positions in just his second season in the big leagues added more meaning for Triolo.
“Originally I think when I learned I was going to play second base, second base was the goal I had,” Triolo said. “I think a utility Gold Glove is all the more special."
