Red Sox Player Named Gold Glove Finalist As Lone Bright Spot On Awful Defense

Boston has one player to celebrate defensively

Scott Neville | Oct 18, 2023

Red Sox Player Named Gold Glove Finalist As Lone Bright Spot On Awful Defense /

In this story:

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox produced terrible defensive ratings across the board and ended the year as one of the worst defensive teams of the century.

While Boston deserves little praise for that side of the ball, there was one player who rightfully has earned recognition for his fielding abilities.

Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo has been named an American League Gold Glove finalist for right field.

The 27-year-old posted nine defensive runs saves this season, which ranked fourth among all Major League Baseball outfielders and third in the American League.

Verdugo was named alongside Texas Rangers' Adolis García and Houston Astros' Kyle Tucker in right field. The former has seven defensive runs saved while the latter only has two and appears to only be listed due to a lack of elite defenders at the position.

While defensive runs saved is far from the only metric that matters, Verdugo appears to have a real shot to claim the award, which would be his first.

Verdugo worked hard this offseason to become more athletic and improve his range. It's good to see the league recognize his improvement.

The polarizing outfielder has been atop the Red Sox's trade rumors this winter as he enters his final year of team control.

While many expect him to be packaged for a pitcher or middle infielder to pair with Trevor Story -- it would be hard to trade a Gold Glove finalist after last season's error-filled campaign.

More MLB: Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Reportedly A 'Strong Candidate' To Fill Vacant GM Role

Published Oct 18, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu