Evan Longoria becomes first Rays player to win three Gold Glove Awards
TAMPA BAY RAYS PRESS RELEASE
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria claimed his third Rawlings Gold Glove Award, following 2009 and 2010. Longoria won the award over finalists Manny Machado (Baltimore Orioles) and Jose Ramirez (Cleveland Indians).
Longoria, 32, becomes the first player in franchise history to win three Gold Glove Awards. It is the eighth Gold Glove Award in franchise history. Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (2016, 2015), right-handed pitcher Jeremy Hellickson (2012), left fielder Carl Crawford (2010) and first baseman Carlos Peña (2008) have also won Gold Glove Awards.
“The Gold Glove is one of the awards when I first started playing that I always wanted to win, so to win a third one is really cool,” said Longoria. “I definitely take pride in my defense. ...It feels good to win it, and it feels good to win it in front of some really good players and some guys who put together good years.”
Longoria becomes the 18th third baseman to win three or more Gold Glove Awards, and only the third active third baseman with three Gold Gloves or more, joining Adrian Beltre (5) and Nolan Arenado (4, entering tonight).
Longoria ranked second among AL third basemen with 11 Defensive Runs Saved, according to FanGraphs, his most since 2013 (12). DRS attempts to calculate how many runs a player saved or cost his team in the field compared to the average player at his position.
Among qualified AL third basemen, Longoria ranked third in fielding percentage (.968), total chances (375), putouts (96) and assists (267). He also played a career-best 47 consecutive errorless games from July 5 to August 28.
Rawlings Gold Glove Award voting consists of two components: 75 percent of the vote comes from managers and coaches, who may not vote for a player on their own team, and 25 percent comes from statistical analysis in collaboration with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
Fan voting for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award begins tonight at 10 p.m. and ends Thursday at 10 p.m. at rawlings.com. A combination of the national fan vote and the SABR Defensive Index will determine who takes home the honor of each League’s top defensive player, which will be announced during the 2017 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Ceremony on Friday, November 10. Kiermaier became the first Rays player to win the American League Platinum Glove Award in 2015.
