Kansas City Royals: Predicting 2015 Gold Glove Winners

Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The postseason-bound KC Royals have these Gold Glove candidates to thank.

At one point this year, it looked like the entire Kansas City Royals starting squad might be starting the All-Star Game. The irony, though, is that the majority of the Royals starters might deserve to win Gold Gloves this year.

Save for Alex Rios (who was quite the fielder back in his prime), an argument could be made for any Royals starter.

Even Omar Infante, with his league-worst on-base percentage in the mid-.230s, is ranked second by FanGraphs in two key defensive sabermetric categories  – Ultimate Zone Rating [UZR] and Defensive Runs Above Average [DEF] –  trailing only Ian Kinsler.

However, I have a feeling Rawlings won’t be calling his name come November. While 25% of Gold Glove votes are determined by defensive statistics provided by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), 75% are still decided by the league’s managers and coaches.

But, plenty of other Royals do have more than a chance. In 2013 and 2014, the trio of Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, and Salvador Perez snagged Gold Gloves for their respective positions.

In addition to those guys, though, there were still a few others who could’ve won without turning any heads. With that in mind, let’s take a look at this year’s potential KC Royals Gold Glove winners.

(Stats in this article via FanGraphs; through Sept. 28)

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