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KC Royals: Lorenzo Cain Not a 2015 Gold Glove Finalist

By Leigh Oleszczak

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In the midst of a 2-0 lead in the World Series, the KC Royals have four players who are finalists for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. Lorenzo Cain was not one of them.

The Gold Glove Award is given to players who excel on defense and is voted on by the managers and coaches. The Kansas City Royals have had several players nominated the past few years, and this year is no exception.

The four Royals up for the award are shortstop Alcides Escobar, left fielder Alex Gordon, first baseman Eric Hosmer, and catcher Salvador Perez. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain was not included, which is a little surprising honestly.

Sure, Cain hasn’t put on quite the show he did during the postseason last year, but he still has 18 defensive runs saved (Thanks to FanGraphs for that stat) and has a 14.3 Ultimate Zone Rating.

Last year, many felt that Cain might have been excluded from the finalists due to splitting his time in right field, but that must not have been the case. the fact he is not a finalist is a real head-scratcher.

As for the guys who are finalists, all are very well deserving. All four guys were also finalists last year and all, but Escobar took home the coveted award.

Gordon has won the award four times (2011-2014) and also won the Platinum Glove Award last season, which is given to the best defensive player in each conference and is voted on by the fans.

What hurts Gordon’s chances of winning his fifth straight Gold Glove is that he missed nearly two months due to a groin injury he sustained in early July.

Don’t let that fool you, though, as Gordon had a great season defensively. He had some big plays, such as jumping into the stands at U.S. Cellular Field to catch a foul ball against the White Sox, and also had a play where he crashed into the bullpen fence at Kauffman Stadium to make an incredible out.

The craziest part of Gordon being THIS good in the outfield is that he wasn’t even originally an outfielder. Gordon was drafted by the Royals as a third baseman. Crazy!

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Hosmer is another guy who is no stranger to the Gold Glove. He’s won two years in a row and very well could be adding a third to his mantle.

He’s only made four errors at first base this year in 158 games, according to FanGraphs. That’s pretty dang impressive.

Perez is yet another guy who has been tied to this award. He’s won three straight Gold Glove Awards in his five seasons with the KC Royals. Perez has five defensive runs saved this season, according to FanGraphs.

Escobar hasn’t won the Gold Glove before in his career, but the postseason has been quite the run for the shortstop. He won the ALCS MVP award and had been killing it as the lead off guy for the Royals.

His inside the park home run in Game 1 of the World Series was super cool to watch, and it’d be even cooler to see Escobar add the Gold Glove to his list of accomplishments this year.

The complete list of Gold Glove Award finalists is listed on CBS Sports’ website. Notable names include Dallas Keuchel, Mike Trout, and Yoenis Cespedes (during his stint with the Detroit Tigers) in the American League and Zack Greinke, Yadier Molina, and Curtis Granderson in the National League.

Do you think any of these Royals will win the 2015 Gold Glove Award?

Next: Top 10 Royals All-Time Catchers

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