The career accolades are strong for Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom.
The right-hander is a five-time All-Star and earned his first berth with the Rangers this season. He is a two-time National League Cy Young winner with the New York Mets. He also finished in the Top 10 of NL Cy Young voting four other times and was in the Top 10 of NL MVP voting twice. He was the 2014 NL rookie of the year. He won his first World Series ring in 2023 with the Rangers, even though he was injured.
He’s also led the Majors in ERA in 2018 (1.70), led the NL in strikeouts twice (255, 2019, and 104, 2020) and the NL in strikeouts per nine innings (13.8, 2020). But there is one major award he hasn’t claimed yet — the Gold Glove.
deGrom was revealed as a finalist for the award earlier this week, joining New York Yankees left-hander Max Fried and Athletics right-hander Luis Severino. Can deGrom overcome the pair to win his first award
Per Rangers PR, deGrom handled 31 chances without an error last season, with was the third-most errorless chances among AL pitchers. He also had four defensive runs saved per FanGraphs, which was tied for fifth among pitchers in the AL.
But is that enough to overcome Fried and Severino? Well, Fried already has three NL Gold Gloves, won in 2022, 2021 and 2022, which gives him credibility with those that select the award. He also handled more chances in the field, with 10 putouts and 39 assists. But he also had four errors, where deGrom had none.
But, when it comes to defensive runs saved, Fried has a significant lead on deGrom. Fried had 10 DRS, his highest total for a single season, including his three Gold Glove seasons.
Severino has never won a Gold Glove either, but his defense excelled with the Athletics, even though he finished under .500 for the season. Like deGrom, he handled every chance in the field without an error, with seven putouts and 24 assists. He had more DRS than deGrom, as Severino finished with six. It tied for his best season, which was in 2017 with the New York Yankees.
Statistically, it doesn’t look good for deGrom. Fried had one of the best DRS rates among pitchers in the AL and Severino was ahead of him, too. An errorless season looks good, but Severino has the same. Even with Fried’s errors, his DRS rate gives him a tool to overcome that stat.
The Rangers were thrilled to have deGrom make it through a full season and earn an All-Star berth. A Gold Glove would be icing on the cake. But it doesn’t look destined to happen this year.
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