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Oakland A's have two Gold Glove Award finalist with one surprising snub
Oakland Athletics' Matt Olson, Ramón Laureano named Gold Glove finalists; Matt Chapman left off
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 19: Matt Olson #28 of the Oakland Athletics makes a play to get the out of Kole Calhoun #56 of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the top of the second inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on August 19, 2020 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
By Shayna Rubin |
PUBLISHED: October 22, 2020 at 2:11 p.m. | UPDATED: October 22, 2020 at 2:32 p.m.
Ramón Laureano and Matt Olson were named Gold Glove Award finalists in Rawlings' reveal over Twitter Thursday afternoon. While the two Oakland A's could celebrate the acknowledgement, they couldn't ignore a glaring omission; third baseman Matt Chapman was not named a finalist.
"That is pretty weird," Olson said. "I think we all know if he played a full year he would have been, if not the winner, a finalist. I couldn't see anybody doing better than him. That's not a knock to other people."
Chapman's omission isn't an embarrassing snub. He played just 35 games before the two-time Platinum Glove player had to undergo hip surgery in mid-September. Chapman looked slightly physically encumbered at third this year. While he was still executing high-difficulty dives for drives and killing rallies with his defensive prowess, his arm looked a little off. He committed five errors on the year — a stunning pace compared to the nine he committed over 156 games last year.
"It's disappointing, to be honest with you. Some players play 60 percent of the season and still win a Gold Glove," Laureano said. "I don't know why in 60 games they don't nominate the greatest defensive player in the entire universe."
That Chapman won't be receiving any hardware this year shouldn't take away from Olson and Laureano's defensive accomplishments.
Olson can extend his Gold Glove streak to three consecutive seasons. The 25-year-old first baseman known for his spectacular picks, uncanny range and ability to turn unlikely defensive plays helped him take home the golden hardware in both of his full seasons in the big leagues.
A truncated season means the Gold Glove Awards are determined solely the SABR Defensive Index, which is compiled using info from Statcast, Sports Information Solutions, and STATS, LLC. Sports Information Solutions' Fielding Bible had Olson at five defensive runs saved, ranked third among all qualified first baseman.
He was nominated along with Houston's Yuli Gurriel and Seattle's Evan White. White recorded seven defensive runs saved, while Gurriel had two. Per Statcast, Olson's three outs above average tops all first basemen. White and Gurriel each have two.
"I take a lot of pride in the defense, I think you guys know that by now," Olson said. "I try to hold myself to this standard. I want to be in the conversation every year."
Even in the span of 60 games, Olson managed to elevate his defensive play to another level. This might not show in the numbers as clearly, but a tricky 3-5 putout he and Chapman — then Jake Lamb, Tommy La Stella and Chad Pinder — flashed with some regularity this year made him an even stronger threat to extinguish scoring threats.
"I felt like I got more comfortable with that throw to third, It's something I knew I could do in the past, but never actually had done the 3-5 in game like I did this year. I tell you what, I think it's a good play that Chappy and I — and Lamb and I — keep it open. When a guy is going form second to third and not anticipating anything, it's an out we can get."
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Laureano made his mark on the baseball world when he doubled a runner off first with an on-the-money, 400-foot throw to first base from left field in Anaheim in 2018. He's robbed a couple home runs, including one to preserve Mike Fiers' no-hitter against the Reds' in 2019. The 25-year-old outfielder is a walking highlight reel.
But those highlights masked some sub-par route running. The spectacular plays never quite matched his actual efficiency in the outfield.
Laureano fixed that this offseason. Working with bench coach Ryan Christenson, he played a few feet deeper in center field this year and saw it pay off with his first career Gold Glove nod. Laureano made the highlight plays — he robbed a home run in Anaheim. He executed a rare 8-4 putout. He runners on base with the mere threat of his arm.
"This year I saw that they weren't running at all," Laureano said. "They were giving up from the first step going from first to third. I saw that a lot this year."
But Laureano's more efficient route running eliminated the mistakes — he didn't commit an error in 53 starts and recorded five defensive runs saved and three outs above average.
He'll be up against tough competition in Minnesota's Byron Buxton and Chicago rookie Luis Robert.
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Shayna Rubin | Contributor
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