Daulton Varsho and Ernie Clement named Gold Glove finalists

The glove company Rawlings created the Gold Glove in the 1950s to celebrate the best defensive player at each position. Winners of the Gold Glove are determined by the votes of managers and coaches in each league, who aren’t allowed to select their own players. There’s also an analytic component provided by the Society for American Baseball Research that accounts for part of the vote.

Last season, the Blue Jays were awarded the Team Gold Glove for being the best defensive team in baseball, while Matt Chapman, Kevin Kiermaier, and Jose Berrios won individual awards at third base, centre field, and pitcher.

Neither Varsho nor Clement has won a Gold Glove before. Varsho was named a finalist for the left field Gold Glove last season but Steven Kawn of the Cleveland Guardians won the award. Clement just finished his first full season in the Major Leagues, as the 28-year-old set a career-high with 139 games played in 2024 with the Blue Jays.

Varsho was among the best players in all of baseball defensively in 2024 and appears likely to win the Gold Glove for centre field this year. The other two players named finalists are Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox and Jake Meyers of the Houston Astros.

Clement was somewhat of a surprise finalist for the third base Gold Glove because he seemed more suited for the Utility Player award. He provided excellent defence over 72 starts at the hot corner and was also a very strong backup at shortstop while Bo Bichette was injured. Jose Ramirez of the Guardians and Alex Bregman of the Astros are the other two finalists.

Another surprise was Alejandro Kirk not being one of the top three vote-getters among American League catchers. Kirk ranked third in the AL in Defensive Runs Saved this season and had the second-highest Fielding Run Value of any catcher in baseball. He was also above average in throwing out runners trying to steal at 31 percent.