Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cody Bellinger have won MLB’s Platinum Glove awards, meant to honor the top overall defender in each league. It’s unclear if the league actually wants people to know that.
For reasons that remain clear only to MLB, the 2026 Platinum Gloves were announced at 11 p.m. ET on a Friday night, with the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees taking home an award that is decided by an easily swayed fan vote. It is the first time either player has won the award.
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The pair seems happy with their new hardware.
The Platinum Gloves are selected from among the 10 Gold Glovers in each league. This year, those were:
American League
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Pitcher: Tanner Bibee, Cleveland Guardians
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Catcher: Dillon Dingler, Detroit Tigers
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First base: Christian Walker, Houston Astros
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Second base: Cole Young, Seattle Mariners
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Shortstop: Taylor Walls, Tampa Bay Rays
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Third base: Caleb Durbin, Boston Red Sox
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Left field: Cody Bellinger, New York Yankees
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Center field: Ceddane Rafaela, Boston Red Sox
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Right field: Wilyer Abreu, Boston Red Sox
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Utility: Ezequiel Duran, Texas Rangers
National League
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Pitcher: Nolan McLean, New York Mets
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Catcher: Gabriel Moreno, Arizona Diamondbacks
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First base: Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves
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Second base: Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers
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Shortstop: Geraldo Perdomo, Arizona Diamondbacks
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Third base: Alex Bregman, Chicago Cubs
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Left field: Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee Brewers
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Center field: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
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Right field: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks
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Utility: Mauricio Dubón, Atlanta Braves
The timing of the announcement was nothing new, nor was the methodology. The winner is decided by combining a fan vote held by Rawlings with “votes” from a stat called the SABR Defensive Index (SDI).
Bellinger led the AL in SDI, while Crow-Armstrong ranked second behind only Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang, another Gold Glover. As for other advanced defensivee stats, Crow-Armstrong ranked first in his league in Statcast’s Fielding Run Value and third in Defensive Runs Saved. Bellinger was 21st and second in those stats, respectively.
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It is, of course, extremely difficult to compare defenders across different positions, as these stats are trying to figure out how, say, an outfielder with a penchant for difficult catches compares to a catcher who can throw out runners and frame pitches. It’s an inherent flaw of the Platinum Gloves, which would be more of a problem if anyone took them seriously.
At the very least, the Platinum Glove is another feather in the cap this season for Crow-Armstrong, who is widely expected to win NL MVP next week. The Cubs star posted MLB’s seventh 40-40 season this year, making him an elite player on both offense and defense this season.
Bellinger, meanwhile, received his first All-Star nod since winning NL MVP in 2019 and was among the Yankees’ top players this season after returning to the team last winter on a five-year, $162.5 million contract.
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Rawling also announced the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs as the winners of the Team Gold Gloves. The Cubs ranked third in MLB this season in defensive efficiency (i.e. the rate at which they turned balls in play into outs), while the Blue Jays were 13th. Toronto, which had no Gold Glovers, also led the AL in errors.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
