Despite an all-around disappointing season for the Pirates, they could still have some hardware to take away from 2020.
On Thursday, Rawlings released its Gold Glove Awards finalists, and two Pirates made the cut. Catcher Jacob Stallings was named a National League finalist for the first time in his career, while second baseman Adam Frazier is a finalist for the second season in a row.
If either of them win, it will be the first Gold Glove for a Pirate since outfielder Corey Dickerson won it in 2018. The last Pirates second baseman to win the Gold Glove was Jose Lind in 1992, and the last Pirates catcher to do so was Mike LaValliere in 1987.
Congratulations to Jacob Stallings and Adam Frazier on being named Rawlings Gold Glove Award Finalists! pic.twitter.com/DvHPIXSfpk
— Pirates (@Pirates) October 22, 2020
Stallings will have to beat out Cincinnati Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart and Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras for the honor, but even if he doesn’t, his breakout to this point is commendable.
The 30-year-old has been designated for assignment twice in his Pirates’ career and only really broke onto the major-league scene in 2019. In 2020, though, he was one of the lone bright spots on the Pirates, winning the Roberto Clemente Award for team MVP.
He is well-deserving of his newest defensive recognition, though. According to baseball prospectus, Stalling led MLB in defending errant pitches, preventing more runs from scoring on errant pitches than any other catcher in the league. He was second in MLB in total defensive runs saved by a catcher, trailing only Barnhart in that category.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton has lobbied multiple times throughout the season for Stallings to be considered for the Gold Glove, which is a stark difference from what Stallings expected would happen in his career.
“I think it’s probably funny how maybe our goals have changed for me,” Stallings said in September. “Now we’re talking about a gold glove instead of just making a big league team or sticking with a big league team.”
As for Frazier, his competition is the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner and St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong. He, too, is well deserving of at least being named a finalist.
In 343 innings played at second base in 2020, Frazier made only one error, which was the fewest of any second baseman who played at least 300 innings at the position. Frazier also tied for seventh in MLB in defensive runs saved.
Late in the season, Frazier did make a move to left field, clearing space for the Pirates to get infielders Ke’Bryan Hayes, Erik Gonzalez and Kevin Newman on the field all at once. Clearly, though, he was one of the Pirates’ most effective defenders at second when he played there, even improving on his defensive runs saved and fielding percentage statistics from 2019, when he was also a Gold Glove finalist.
The winners of the Gold Glove Awards will be named Nov. 3 on ESPN.
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak
First Published: October 22, 2020, 7:06 p.m.
Updated: October 22, 2020, 7:59 p.m.