The Orioles were again shut out of the Gold Glove awards
Finalists Ryan Mountcastle and Colton Cowser came up empty, as the O’s had no Gold Glove winners for the eighth time in nine years.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Baseball’s awards season has begun, and the Orioles were left out in the cold in last night’s Gold Glove honors. The Birds’ two finalists, first baseman Ryan Mountcastle and left fielder Colton Cowser, each were edged out in the vote by the Twins’ Carlos Santana and the Guardians’ Steven Kwan, respectively.
Neither result was a huge surprise, based on both reputation and defensive statistics. Kwan, now a three-time Gold Glove winner in his first three major league seasons, led the left field finalists with 10 Defensive Runs Saved to Cowser’s 4. At first base, Santana has long been known as a quality defender and has now won his first career Gold Glove at age 38. He and Mountcastle tied with a league-leading 8 DRS at first base, but Santana led Mountcastle in Outs Above Average, 14 to 2.
The Orioles aren’t a bad defensive team, but they’ve been in an extended Gold Glove drought of late. They’ve come up empty-handed in eight of the last nine seasons, with only Ramón Urías’s surprising 2022 win at third base keeping them from being completely shut out in that span. That comes on the heels of a prolific half-decade in which the O’s were rife with Gold Glovers. From 2011-2015, the Orioles had 12 Gold Glove winners, including four consecutive seasons of two or more.
