Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto wins Gold Glove Award

For the first time since 2012, the Philadelphia Phillies have a Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner.

Sunday, it was officially announced that Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto won the National League Gold Glove Award for catcher. He’s the first Phillie since Jimmy Rollins to win a Gold Glove Award.

In his first season with the Phillies, Realmuto cemented his status as the best catcher in baseball. In addition to hitting 25 home runs and driving in 83 runs, Realmuto threw out a league-leading 37 would-be basestealers, while posting 11 defensive runs saved and 8.0 framing runs above average.

Not only did Realmuto grade out as the best defensive catcher in 2019, but FanGraphs says that he was the best defensive player in all of baseball. Now that Realmuto has won the National League Gold Glove Award at catcher, he’s eligible for the Platinum Glove Award, which is issued to the best overall defensive player in each league. He’ll compete against the other eight National League Gold Glove Award winners in a process that combines fan voting with the SABR Defensive Index. Fan voting will be open until 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 7.

The Phillies other two Gold Glove Award nominees – right fielder Bryce Harper and RHP Aaron Nola – ultimately fell short in their quest to win.

Harper was edged out by Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger, who is also likely to win the National League MVP. Despite falling short, Harper, after the worst defensive season of his career in 2018, bounced back a major way defensively in 2019. Harper tied a career high with 13 outfield assists in 2019, while posting a career-best nine defensive runs saved.

Nola, who did post five defensive runs saved in 2019, lost out to Zack Greinke. Despite finishing the season in the American League, Greinke, who spent the bulk of his season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, won his sixth consecutive National League Gold Glove.

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