NEWSLETTER
It was not a banner year for the Chicago Cubs in, well, just about anything. Defense was no exception, as the Cubs were roughly middle-of-the-pack or slightly better, depending on your metrics of choice. It wasn’t a bad team defensively, but it was certainly disappointing in hindsight, knowing how critical defense was going to be if that pitching staff was going to have success.
Speaking of both the defense and the pitching staff … don’t say Zach Davies didn’t do anything well in 2021:
2021 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Finalists – Pitcher – NL: Zach Davies, Max Fried, Zack Wheeler #RawlingsGoldGloveAwards pic.twitter.com/WOwmMCERKJ
— Rawlings Baseball (@RawlingsSports) October 28, 2021
If you dig deep enough on the advanced stats, you can make an argument that Davies deserved to be up here, though I’m not sure he was quite in the top three. It was, overall, a terrible year for Davies, who is now a free agent. But at least he gets this nod.
The Cubs have had quite a run of Gold Glove finalist pitchers, with Kyle Hendricks making frequent appearances, and Alec Mills getting a nod last year, too. If you’re a pitch-to-contact type, I suppose you (1) have to be especially ready to make plays, and (2) have more chances to make more plays.
Throw in injuries and trades that kinda mucked up considerations, today’s reveal of no other Gold Glove finalists for the Cubs is not a surprise. There really isn’t anyone I would point to as an obvious snub.
