The Chicago Cubs produced one of the best all-around defensive performances in Major League Baseball this year.
That was reflected, in part, by center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, second baseman Nico Hoerner and left fielder Ian Happ winning Gold Glove Awards while three others, left-hander Matthew Boyd, catcher Carson Kelly and third baseman Matt Shaw, were finalists. And though shortstop Dansby Swanson and first baseman Michael Busch didn’t earn finalist recognition, they were also among the best defensively at their position.
The Cubs’ elite defensive performance earned them the National League team Gold Glove Award.
Rawlings created the team award in 2020, giving out one in each league. This marks the second Cubs team award, also receiving the honor in its inaugural season. A National League Central team has won the award each year.
“That Padres (wild-card) series, I think, was really the best example of that, just the ability to win close games and steal runs and hits from the opposing team and from all parts of our defense,” Hoerner said after winning his award last week .”And only three of us were able to win the awards, but it was a real group effort. We all benefit from each other in a high standard and a sense of identity within that, and it’s always easier to play when you’re surrounded by good players.”
To determine the winner of the team award, Rawlings uses a sabermetric model created by the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) called the SABR Defensive Index (SDI). That metric utilizes two defensive metrics derived from batted ball location-based data and collected from play-by-play accounts. The SDI metric uses MLBAM’s Statcast, Sports Information Solutions data and Stats Perform data along with traditional statistics and advanced analysis.
The Cubs posted 37 Outs Above Average (OAA) to lead MLB, and they finished second (41) to the Toronto Blue Jays (45) in Fielding Run Value.
“All across the field, we were pretty exceptional,” Happ said after winning his fourth consecutive Gold Glove Award. “And I think the confidence that gives our pitchers — they were the most competitive team in the zone, just as far as strike throwing. And I think it gives those guys a lot of confidence to go out and throw strikes and know that if the ball is put in play, the defense behind them is really solid. And so at times, it felt like it was a really suffocating thing for us as a group to be able to make all of those plays.”
