The Chicago Cubs roster was built with a focus on emphasizing defense.
That multi-year process resulted in Major League Baseball’s best all-around defense and six players named finalists Wednesday for the National League Gold Glove award at their respective positions. No White Sox players finished as a finalist.
Two Cubs are looking to earn another Gold Glove.
Left fielder Ian Happ has won three consecutive accolades and second baseman Nico Hoerner won the only one nomination of his career in 2023 while four Cubs — center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, third baseman Matt Shaw, catcher Carson Kelly and left-hander Matthew Boyd — could win their first. Shortstop Dansby Swanson notably did not receive enough votes to be named a finalist.
The winners will be revealed Nov. 2 on ESPN.
Crow-Armstrong’s 24 OAA are tied for the most among any big-league fielder, regardless of position. He made an absurd 19 5-star catches, which occurs on balls with a 0-25% catch probability, and converted 59.4% of those chances. Both are the most by any MLB player in a single season since Statcast tracked those metrics.
Like Crow-Armstrong, Hoerner’s defensive performance was so elite that he was among the best defenders beyond just his fellow second basemen. While pacing all big-league second basemen with 14 OAA, Hoerner also tied for the fifth-most Defensive Runs Saved (17) and committed only four errors.
During his annual end-of-season press conference on Wednesday, President Jed Hoyer touted how the Cubs defense sets them apart from other teams. The Cubs’ 37 Outs Above Average (OAA) led MLB and they finished second (41) behind the Toronto Blue Jays (45) in Fielding Run Value.
“I do think it’s sort of the backbone of of what we do,” Hoyer said. “And sometimes it doesn’t get enough attention. We focus on the pitching or focus on hitting. We have exceptional fielders in a lot of different places and that certainly helps.
“‘The combination of our pitching infrastructure and a combination of our defense, I think we can get the most out of a lot of pitchers because I do feel like we made plays, and I think that shows up almost every night.”
Shaw’s defensive improvement at third from the start of spring training to the end of the season was undeniable, beyond earning the finalist distinction.
“Defensively, he really, candidly, surprised us,” Hoyer said of Shaw. “That was an area that we didn’t know how it was going to go for him. He was playing largely a new position, and he’s doing it in the big leagues, and he was exceptional. I think his defense was fantastic.
“We look at the numbers on his defense, it bears that out, and he was a big part of our run prevention as well.”