Detroit Tigers Outfielder Wins Prestigious Fielding Award
The World Series is here, but the Detroit Tigers are already several weeks into their offseason after getting eliminated in the ALDS by the Cleveland Guardians (who were then knocked out by the New York Yankees).
While Tigers fans wait to see what moves their front office will make to bolster the roster this winter, at least they've been getting some good news on the awards front, especially in the fielding department.
Last week, catcher Jake Rogers was named a finalist for a Gold Glove Award, the results of which will be revealed on Nov. 3.
And this week, outfielder Riley Greene won his first Fielding Bible Award.
Congratulations to Riley Greene on his first career Fielding Bible Award! 👏 https://t.co/6it6H6m3YZ
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) October 24, 2024
The Fielding Bible Award is essentially the Gold Glove award for the sabermetrics community. It's voted on by baseball analysts rather than coaches and managers and incorporates more statistical analysis, making it a better gauge of a player's fielding prowess.
Greene is a perfect example of that. Despite leading MLB left fielders with 14 defensive runs saved, he was completely snubbed by the Gold Glove voters. He's not even one of the three finalists for an award he arguably deserves to win.
At least the Fielding Bible Award is a nice consolation prize for Greene, who logged a .986 fielding percentage and four assists in 106 defensive games this season. It's the first Fielding Bible Award for the 24-year-old, who also made his first All-Star team this year.
Greene enjoyed a breakout season at the plate as well. He set career-highs in numerous categories, including home runs (24), RBI (74) and OPS (.827).
With his stellar offense and defense, Greene was worth a career-high 4.8 WAR this season, helping Detroit make the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Hopefully Rogers has better luck than Greene in the Gold Glove department next weekend, but at least Greene got some hardware for his efforts.
