Freddy Galvis and Odubel Herrera Gold Glove finalists

Those of us who write about the Phillies have been hungry for some news lately. So the announcement that two Phils players are Rawlings Gold Glove finalists this year is big news ‘round these parts.

Shortstop Freddy Galvis capped a fantastic defensive season by joining two other NL shortstops, the San Francisco Giants Brandon Crawford and the Chicago Cubs Addison Russell as finalists at that position.

After years of promises that Freddy was an elite shortstop, only to disappoint, Galvis had his finest year with the glove in 2016 and is entirely worthy of this selection.

Galvis committed the fourth-fewest errors among qualified NL shortstops this season, with just eight, less than the other two finalists. Crawford committed 11 and Russell made 14.

However, advanced defensive metrics indicate Crawford or Russell was the better overall defender.

Among qualified NL shortstops, Crawford had the second-best Def rating, according to Fangraphs, at 28.0. Galvis was second at 22.0 and Russell was right behind at 21.9. Both Crawford and Russell had Galvis beat in Defensive Runs Saved, each were at +19 DRS, Galvis was at +5.

And according to Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR), Crawford led in that category as well at 21.3. Russell was second at 15.4, with Galvis just behind at 15.1.

The numbers seem to indicate Crawford should be the winner. But that doesn’t take away any of the things Galvis did in 2016.

So yeah, that’ll play.

The second Phillie finalist for a Gold Glove is, surprisingly, center fielder Odubel Herrera.

He joins the Cincinnati Reds’ Billy Hamilton and Atlanta Braves Ender Inciarte as finalists at that position.

Herrera didn’t have a bad season defensively, but it is surprising to see him as a finalist for this award. He seemed to take a small step back defensively from last year and made an NL-worst nine errors in center this season. But obviously those putouts and assists indicate he got to a lot of balls and made a lot of throws that other center fielders didn’t.

And according to the advanced metrics, you can see why he was included. His +6 DRS was fourth-best among qualified NL center fielders, behind Hamilton (+15), Inciarte (+13) and St. Louis center fielder Randal Grichuk (+7).

Herrera also trailed Hamilton and Inciarte in UZR and overall Fangraphs Def, but finished third behind both players in both categories.

This is most likely Hamilton’s award to lose. Still, Herrera did some fine things in the field this year, despite the errors.

Should Galvis win, he would become the fifth Phillie shortstop to win the Gold Glove. Previous winners include Robby Wine (1963), Ruben Amaro Sr., (1964), Larry Bowa (1972 & ‘78) and Jimmy Rollins (2007-09, 2012).

And if Herrera wins, he would be the fourth Phils center fielder to pull off the feat, joining Garry Maddox (1975-82), Aaron Rowand (2007), and Shane Victorino (2008-10). Bobby Abreu is the only other Phillie outfielder to win a Gold Glove, in 2005, as a right fielder.