Kansas City Royals Five Gold Glove Candidates and Their Chances
By Ben Nielsen
Jun 3, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (2) makes a diving stop in the first inning against the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Alcides Escobar
Other Candidates: Yunel Escobar, J.J. Hardy
It is hard to break voting trends with this award unless their is an injury or a particularly down season like the one Matt Wieters had. J.J. Hardy was the AL’s All-Star shortstop this season and had yet another solid year on the field.
Still, the numbers favor Alcides, and he was the best defensive infielder – if you don’t count catcher – for the league’s best defense. This one is going to be close but probably comes down to who has the better track record, which is Hardy.
Escobar is worthy, however, should he win it. He bested Hardy in plus/minus, UZR, and UZR/150 – the UZR numbers were not even close.
Prediction: Hardy wins.