Non-overrated catcher wins NL Gold Glove

Rawlings has done the fair and sensible thing. J.T. Realmuto has won the Gold Glove as the best defensive catcher in the National League for 2019. Teammates Aaron Nola and Bryce Harper, at their respective positions, did not.

Realmuto was in contention for the award with one deserving candidate and one who is living on reputation. Austin Hedges has long been considered a first rate fielder and is rightly ranked among the top defensive backstops in the game. Yadier Molina though.....not so much. You’d be hard pressed to find any defensive statistic, standard or advanced, where he is a top three catcher. But, “best fans in baseball” and whatnot.

Realmuto, though, was an easy choice. According to Fangraphs, not only was he the top defender as catcher, he was the fielder that earned the most defensive WAR for any position.

Usually, the people in charge of picking the winners for the Gold Glove do something weird that makes us scratch our heads. With the National League catcher, they got it right.

Congratulations, J.T.

You earned it.