MLB Gold Glove finalists announced: Betts, Anderson selected for Dodgers, Rengifo for Angels

Major League Baseball has announced the Gold Glove Award finalists for the 2022 season, with several local players earning a nod as some of the league's best defenders. 

The honor, which has been awarded since 1957, honors the best defenders at each position in each league. 

As defined by MLB, "To determine the winners at the nine standard positions, the 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team vote from a pool of players in their league, excluding players from their own team. These votes comprise 75% of the selection total, with the SABR Defensive Index counting for the other 25%."

The winners will be announced on Nov. 1. 

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For the first time since its inception, the Gold Glove Award will also recognize the utility player position, for those versatile athletes who can field multiple spots on the diamond. 

The Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, St. Louis Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks tied the league in finalists, with a grand total of five each. They were followed by the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres who both came in just behind them with four finalists.

Only four teams did not receive a finalist nomination: Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. The Rays however, did finish the year with David Peralta, who earned a spot in the National League for spending the majority of the season with the Diamondbacks, manning left field.

Additionally, both Daulton Varsho of the Diamondbacks and Tommy Edman of the Cardinals earned a nomination in two separate positions, Varsho in right field and as a utility player, and Edman as a second baseman and utility player. 

Of the finalists, 19 have already secured at least one Gold Glove Award in their career, while eight of those have won multiple. Nolan Arenado (9), Mookie Betts (5), Paul Goldschmidt (4) and Anthony Rizzo (4) lead the way among this year's finalists.

Four of the Finalists have also been awarded Platinum Glove Awards, given to the best defensive player in their league, regardless of position - Arenado (2017-2021), Rizzo (2016), Carlos Correa (2021) and Matt Chapman (2018-2019).

Two Dodgers had their names announced as finalists on Thursday:

Mookie Betts, Right Field (Seventh career nomination)

As solid as any defender in recent history, Betts earns his seventh career nomination a year after having his five-year streak of Gold Gloves broken in 2021. 

Mookie manned right field for the Dodgers in 136 games this season, sporting a .994 fielding percentage with just two errors committed. He started four double plays from the outfield and finished the year with eight outfield assists. On top of that, Betts fielded seven games for the Boys in Blue at second base, where he had a perfect fielding percentage. Betts finished the year with a league leading +31 in Total Zone Runs, as well as +15 Defensive Runs Saved. He qualified as the fourth best right fielder in Outs Above Average and overall, he finishes the year as the best right fielder as ranked by the SABR Defensive Index for right fielders, at 11.9 — a drastic advantage over the next closest defender's 4.8. 

Tyler Anderson, Starting Pitcher (First career nomination)

Adding onto a stellar first year with the Dodgers, Tyler Anderson earned his first career Gold Glove nomination. He finished third among qualified players in Defensive Runs Saved as a pitcher, with +5. However, he did finish the year with three errors, tied for most in the league as a pitcher, putting his fielding percentage at .936 on the year. His 2.22 Range Factor finished second among all pitchers, and he finished as SABR Defensive Index's best pitcher with a 4.0 SDI. 

For pitchers to qualify, they must have thrown at least 138 innings in the team's first 138 games of the season. 

One Angel was also named as a finalist: 

Luis Rengifo, Utility Player (First career nomination)

After getting solid time in the field for the first time since making his big league debut in 2019, Regifo flashed his glove all over the field for the Halos. 

While primarily utilized at second base, fielding 99 games in the middle of the infield, Rengifo also played in 39 games at third base, 19 games at shortstop and five games in the outfield. He ended the season with .978 fielding percentage overall, starting 66 double plays. He had eight errors in 357 chances, finishing top five among second baseman in both Total Zone Runs (+6) and Range Factor (4.53). 

However, Rengifo finished the year with -1 Defensive Runs Saved and -8 Outs Above Average. 

Brandon Marsh, who was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline, was also named as a finalist. Despite finishing the year in Philly, Marsh was technically selected as an American League finalist after patrolling the outfield for the Angels for the first four months of the season. 

The Rawlings Gold Glove Award Finalists for 2022:

American League

Pitcher 

• Jose Berrios - Toronto Blue Jays (Third career nomination)
• Shane Bieber - Cleveland Guardians (First career nomination)
• Jameson Taillon - New York Yankees (First career nomination)

Catcher

• Sean Murphy - Oakland Athletics (Second career nomination, won in 2021)
• Cal Raleigh - Seattle Mariners (First career nomination)
• Jose Trevino - New York Yankees (First career nomination)

First Base

• Luis Arraez - Minnesota Twins (First career nomination)
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - Toronto Blue Jays (First career nomination)
• Anthony Rizzo - New York Yankees (Seventh career nomination; Won in 2016 & from 2018-2020)

Second Base

• Andrés Giménez - Cleveland Guardians (First career nomination)
• Jonathan Schoop - Detroit Tigers (Second career nomination)
• Marcus Semien - Texas Rangers (Fourth career nomination)

Third Base

• Matt Chapman - Toronto Blue Jays (Fourth career nomination; Won in 2018 & 2019)
• José Ramírez - Cleveland Guardians (Fourth career nomination)
• Ramón Urías - Baltimore Orioles (First career nomination)

Shortstop

• Xander Bogaerts - Boston Red Sox (Second career nomination)
• Carlos Correa - Minnesota Twins (Third career nomination; Won in 2021)
• Jeremy Peña - Houston Astros (First career nomination)

Left Field

• Andrew Benintendi - Kansas City Royals/New York Yankees (Fourth career nomination; Won in 2021)
• Steven Kwan - Cleveland Guardians (First career nomination)
• Brandon Marsh - Los Angeles Angels/Philadelphia Phillies (First career nomination)

Center Field

• Cedric Mullins - Baltimore Orioles (First career nomination)
• Myles Straw - Cleveland Guardians (Second career nomination)
• Michael A. Taylor - Kansas City Royals (Third career nomination; Won in 2021)

Right Field

• Jackie Bradley Jr. - Boston Red Sox/Toronto Blue Jays (Sixth career nomination; Won in 2018)
• Max Kepler - Minnesota Twins (First career nomination)
• Kyle Tucker - Houston Astros (Third career nomination)

Utility Player

• DJ LeMahieu - New York Yankees (Seventh career nomination; Won in 2014, 2017, 2018)
• Whit Merrifield - Kansas City Royals/Toronto Blue Jays (First career nomination)
• Luis Rengifo - Los Angeles Angels (First career nomination)

National League

Pitcher

• Tyler Anderson - Los Angeles Dodgers (First career nomination)
• Corbin Burnes - Milwaukee Brewers (First career nomination)
• Max Fried - Atlanta Braves (Third career nomination; Won in 2020 & 2021)

Catcher

• Travis d'Arnaud - Atlanta Braves (First career nomination)
• Tomás Nido - New York Mets (First career nomination)
• J.T. Realmuto - Philadelphia Phillies (Third career nomination; Won in 2019)

First Base

• Paul Goldschmidt - St. Louis Cardinals (Eighth career nomination; Won in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2021)
• Matt Olson - Atlanta Braves (Fifth career nomination; Won in 2018 & 2019)
• Christian Walker - Arizona Diamondbacks (Second career nomination)

Second Base

• Jake Cronenworth - San Diego Padres (First career nomination)
• Tommy Edman - St. Louis Cardinals (Second career nomination; Won in 2021)
• Brendan Rodgers - Colorado Rockies (First career nomination)

Third Base

• Nolan Arenado - St. Louis Cardinals (10th career nomination; Won from 2013-2021)
• Ke'Bryan Hayes - Pittsburgh Pirates (First career nomination)
• Ryan McMahon - Colorado Rockies (Second career nomination)

Shortstop

• Ha-Seong Kim - San Diego Padres (First career nomination)
• Miguel Rojas - Miami Marlins (Second career nomination)
• Dansby Swanson (Second career nomination)

Left Field

• Ian Happ - Chicago Cubs (First career nomination)
• David Peralta - Arizona Diamondbacks/Tampa Bay Rays (Fourth career nomination; Won in 2019)
• Christian Yelich - Milwaukee Brewers (Fifth career nomination; Won in 2014)

Center Field

• Trent Grisham - San Diego Padres (Second career nomination; Won in 2020)
• Victor Robles - Washington Nationals (Second career nomination)
• Alek Thomas - Arizona Diamondbacks (First career nomination)

Right Field

• Mookie Betts - Los Angeles Dodgers (Seventh career nomination; Won from 2016-2020)
• Juan Soto - Washington Nationals/San Diego Padres (Second career nomination)
• Daulton Varsho - Arizona Diamondbacks (First career nomination)

Utility Player

• Brendan Donovan - St. Louis Cardinals (First career nomination)
• Tommy Edman - St. Louis Cardinals (Third career nomination, second for 2022 season; Won at 2B in 2021)
• Daulton Varsho - Arizona Diamondbacks (Second nomination of 2022 season)

You can view the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award Finalists here.