Braun's chances for a Gold Glove

[Shawn Sabatke]

I know it's a long shot for a couple reasons:

1. It's his first year in the OF

2. In an absolute case of outmoded ideas, it usually goes to CF's

 

But, according to what I've read he led MLB OF's with a 1.000 FP, led NL OF's with 275 putouts, was 2nd in Range Factor (1.95), 4th is assists (9), all in 1310.1 innings. I remember a few times Cirillo was overlooked due to inferior offensive numbers (regardless of the name of the award, we all know that factors in), but that shouldn't be a problem for Braunie. Obviously, with more experience he'll start getting to balls better and will become more comfortable with dives and angles.

 

Biased opinion, but I think he absolutely deserves to be recognized for switching positions and excelling at that new position.

[pitchleague]

I think he's a candidate but I doubt he wins. Too tentative on plays near the wall/over his head (running/jumping catches at the wall seem to be a biggie for Gold Glove winners), the plays he did make dives for really weren't all that spectacular or out-of-the-ordinary when it comes to effort, and he plays left field.

 

If Andrew Jones wins again, we definitely know the fix is in.

[colbyjack]

Yeah, the Gold Glove is all about reputation, and if you don't play CF you better be Ichiro-esque on a corner.

[rm121978]

yeah a lot of his dives were the jenkinsesque "dive when you don't really have to to make the highlights" type, lol

[logan82]

He might have a chance. He is a pretty good hitter and doesn't suck in the field.

[Herm]

He has two chances - slim and none.

[jhpc12]

I know that everyone loves Braun and I agree I am one. BUT I know it was only his first year in the outfield and he had a pretty good year there. BUT if you ever paid attention to the way he played the outfield. He was always 10 to 15 feet deeper than he needed to be, I can't remember 5 times when a ball went over his head that he actually made the catch, he played most off the wall. Most of his diving catches could have been made running through the ball, but he dove anyway

 

In my opinion he is only an average outfielder with plenty of skills to improve, but definitely not a candidate for LF Gold Glove now.

[JohnBriggs12]

He has two chances - slim and none.

slim left town.

 

He did play okay. His arm was good. He made all the routine plays. Didn't bobble any routine hits to LF. But he did play very cautiously on balls hit over his head. He took a few bad angles on some balls and misplayed what should have been singles into extra bases a few times.

 

But to win a Gold Glove, you need to make some more highlight reel plays.

 

What I liked about his play was that his concentration level never waned out there. That's what bad OF do. In the long run, if he keeps that up, he has a chance down the road at a gold glove.

[JJHardy7]

I think in the future Braun could win one, but if he wins it this year it's more because of his bat than his fielding. I'm a huge Braun fan, but he did play pretty deep. If you look at stats, I guess he's in the gold glove discussion, but in reality some of those stats are because of how cautious he played. I would love to see Braun develop into a CF in the next few years, but if nothing else he should continue to develop into a pretty good LF.

[Diskono]

He might have a chance. He is a pretty good hitter and doesn't suck in the field.

Yep. This is pretty much the primary criteria for picking gold glove winners. Unfortunately, first dibs on the award go to the "whoever won it last year" qualifier:

 

http://www.derivataters.com/goldglove.png

[dadofandrew]

He does hit enough, but he's not flashy, nor does he play CF.

[jhart05]

No.

 

I know he wasn't given any errors this year, but I would have given him a couple.

 

Right now he's just an average defensive outfielder.

 

He wasn't even the best defensive outfielder on the Brewers this year.

[logan82]

jhart05 wrote:

He wasn't even the best defensive outfielder on the Brewers this year.

Defense matters little as long as you make a few special plays and can hit well. How else would Jeter win a GG?

[BrewCrewForever]

Great flow chart Diskono.

[areacodes]

How else would Jeter win a GG?

Because he dove into the seats in foul territory? I mean, that one play has to win him a GG for at least 3 years.

 

But, onto Braun. I think you'll only find a handful of fans disappointed about his play in left this year. I think he had a pretty good year, played it safe most of the time and improved as the year went on. He was fortunate enough to have Mike Cameron roaming CF next to him which shrank the area Braun needed to worry about covering. He has all the tools to be a great outfielder (I personally think he might be able to handle CF in a few years) if he keeps working hard.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Given the decision making criteria for this award, it's hard to even care.

 

When Raffy Palmeiro won it some years back while playing 28 games in the field, any slim amount of credibility this "award" had was completely lost.