Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants’ win-less October continues.
There will not be a Gold Glove winner from San Francisco this season, as the finalists were announced at each position and the Giants were shut out Thursday.
The Giants’ best shot was at catcher, with Buster Posey being a 2016 Gold Glover. But Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto and San Diego’s Austin Hedges — the two statistically best defensive catchers in baseball this season, according to most metrics — got the nod, and Yadier Molina beat out Posey to be the third and final finalist. (Atlanta’s Tyler Flowers also had an argument.)
Kevin Pillar has been a finalist three years at center field, but not this season. While he made spectacular plays, the metrics do not look at him favorably, and he lost the position for a few weeks to Steven Duggar.
St. Louis’ Harrison Bader, Milwaukee’s Lorenzo Cain and Washington’s Victor Robles are the NL finalists and the three best rated, according to Fangraphs. Among NL center fielders, Pillar came in 17th (in a statistic that is valuable but should be viewed skeptically.)
He’ll have to settle for his Willie Mac Award.