Guardians Have 3 Key Players Up For Major Postseason Award

MLB announced all nominees for the 2023 Gold Glove awards, and there are three Cleveland Guardians in contention for the hardware.

The Guards may not have a good offense, but pitching and defense are organizational strengths, and Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez, and Andres Gimenez could be adding a Gold Glove to their award cabinets soon.

All three are finalists at their respective positions.

As if we didn’t already think this was coming, we have a few @RawlingsSports Gold Glove finalists!#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/vL0aS4ua6D

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 18, 2023

Kwan led all MLB left fielders with 16 Defensive Runs Saved, or DRS, and the second-ranked player had six.

Gimenez might have been the most impressive of the Guardians trio, pacing MLB second basemen with an incredible 23 DRS.

Ramirez, in turn, had one, fourth in the American League.

Kwan also had nine OAA, or Outs Above Average, which is Statcast’s go-to defensive metric.

Gimenez had a whopping 18 OAA, and J-Ram checked in at six.

Kwan and Gimenez are favorites to take home the prestigious recognition at their positions.

Infield defense has been a strength in Cleveland for a while, and that will remain the case as long as Gimenez is playing at the keystone.

A natural shortstop, he is one of the best fielders in the game regardless of position; while Ramirez does a pretty good job too.

A similar thing can be said about Kwan, who has developed not only into a useful top-of-the-order hitter with his contact and discipline, but also into one of the top outfield defenders in MLB.

He and Myles Straw make a great pairing in LF-CF and cover a lot of ground, helping pitchers immensely.