Both Gold Glove finalists for LA Angels getting snubbed is a complete joke

Both David Fletcher and Jared Walsh of the LA Angels were named as finalists for Rawlings Gold Glove awards.

Walsh was in the mix for the Gold Glove at first base with Yuli Gurriel and Matt Olson. Fletcher was in the running with both of Marcus Semien and Whit Merrifield.

Both were snubbed for the award, and it was a total joke. Gurriel took home the Gold Glove at first base, and Semien took it home for second base.

Jared Walsh and David Fletcher should have brought home Gold Gloves for the LA Angels.

David Fletcher had 12 defensive runs saved for the LA Angels, and Semien had just 11. It’s not the only statistical category that Fletcher beats Semien in. Semien was also tied for top five in errors among AL second basemen with eight.

Fletcher had just six errors on the whole year, and had the better fielding percentage too. Fletcher posted a .990 fielding percentage compared to Semien’s .985.

There’s also no excuse to not have Walsh as a Gold Glove winner. Walsh also led the AL in fielding percentage at his position (.995). He also had two less errors than Gurriel, just like how Fletcher had two less errors than Semien.

Walsh has far more range than Gurriel too. Luke Hooper of Fangraphs found that Walsh’s quickness has allowed for him to play 42.9 feet off of the base. He practically covers the entire 4-5 gap, and has the quickness to get back to balls down the line too (2.18 40-ft split time).

Gurriel’s 40-ft split time is 2.26, which is 27th percentile league-wide. Walsh’s split time is the second fastest among MLB first basemen (68th percentile). Because of this, Gurriel only plays 39.3 feet off of the bag.

That was tied for 12th in the Majors, where as Walsh led baseball.

The Angels will be bringing home many awards this offseason. Shohei Ohtani has already won countless major awards, and will continue to. It still is, however, frustrating that the Gold Gloves were awarded to the players on more popular teams, and not the players who were most deserving.