Simmons, Machado Take Home Platinum Glove Awards
By Ryan Ritchey
Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
As we take a look around the Majors at the awards given out, we go to the Platinum Gloves. There are Gold Gloves and then there are Platinum Gloves. The Platinum Glove goes to the best defender in each league, no matter the position. Andrelton Simmons of the Atlanta Braves took home the hardware for the National League, while Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles did so for the American League.
The Nationals got to see Andrelton Simmons plenty this past season making ridiculous plays. The 23 year old was named a Gold Glove winner earlier in the week and was well deserving. Simmons made just 14 errors in 753 chances. That gives him a fielding percentage of just over 98%. You don’t get much better than that as a short stop.
He wasn’t the player that only played the ball right at him either. According to Baseball-Reference Simmons saved a total of 30 runs in 2013 just by his defensive play. He also turned a total of 94 doubles plays which was fourth best in the National League.
As for the American League, Manny Machado got the award. Machado also won a Gold Glove earlier in the week, along with his two teammates J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones. Machado was a highlight real all season long with his glove. From making bare-handed plays, to throwing balls from foul territory across the diamond to get an out.
He didn’t have as many chances as Simmons, but he only made 13 errors on the season. It wasn’t a surprise that Machado also saved the most runs in the American League (32). That is two more than Simmons’ 30.
It really wasn’t a surprise that these two won this award. They were the best all season long on defense. The thing that really stands out is both players were in their first full season in the Majors. Simmons is a little older at 24 than Machado who is just 20. For a fan of defense these two are the ones to watch. They make the fantastic plays, but also don’t make errors on the routine plays. They will be fun to watch for years to come as they both try to out do each other on defense.
All Stats Courtesy of Baseball-Reference