Four Phillies among 2024 Gold Glove finalists

Brandon Marsh could be the Phillies’ best chance at a Gold Glove this year. (Grace Del Pizzo/Phillies Nation)

For all of the Phillies’ problems in the second half of the season, defense — mostly — was not a central one. That fact was reflected in Tuesday’s unveiling of the 2024 Gold Glove finalists.

Four Phillies made the shortlist: Bryson Stott at second base, Brandon Marsh in left field, Zack Wheeler at pitcher and Bryce Harper at first base.

That Harper is a finalist for the award is quite impressive in his first full season at first base. He may not win his first Gold Glove — Christian Walker led the NL in outs above average, Matt Olson in defensive runs saved — but Harper had seven OOA and five DRS at one of the more underrated positions on the diamond from a fielding standpoint.

The Phillies were confident that Harper’s athleticism and competitiveness would help him handle the learning curve when they moved him to the infield early last season. It’s clear they’ve gotten more than they expected out of the transition.

Wheeler likely won’t beat out Chris Sale for his coveted first Cy Young Award this year, but the Gold Glove gives him a chance at a consolation prize.

They’re two of the finalists for that award, but the Mets’ Luis Severino — who’s gotten the last laugh in the postseason as well — seems like the favorite to take home the hardware, which Wheeler did last season.

Stott is one of the Phillies’ two or three best defenders overall, but he’s a distant third in the Gold Glove running at second base. He trailed both Ketel Marte and Brice Turang in OAA as well as DRS (that one by a wide margin, with Stott at seven and Turang at a whopping 21).

Until it happens, the questions about Stott and Trea Turner flipping positions in the Phillies’ middle infield will persist. Turner has never been a good defender, including as a Phillie, and from that standpoint, he’s heading in the wrong direction as he ages. Dave Dombrowski confirmed on Tuesday, though, that the current configuration will remain, so for now, Stott makes up half of a stout right side of the infield along with Harper.

The Phillies’ best chance at a Gold Glove might come in the form of Marsh, though he’s no shoe-in, and maybe not the favorite either. His seven DRS was one off of Ian Happ for the NL lead, but his zero OAA beat Happ, who was in the negatives.

Marsh played 564 1/3 fewer innings in left field than Happ did this season, and 375 fewer than Lourdes Gurriel Jr., the other finalist. Of course, there are two ways to spin that: His relative lack of time in left field could hurt his case, but making the impact he did in such a short span could help. If the latter wins out, he’d take home his first Gold Glove.

Notably not finalists were J.T. Realmuto and Johan Rojas. Realmuto had been among the top three every year except for 2020 since he was traded to the Phillies in 2019, winning twice. He graded out as league average with zero defensive runs saved this year, and he ranked toward the bottom of the league in Statcast’s Catcher Framing Runs metric. The 20% of would-be base-stealers that he threw out was his lowest clip since his debut season a decade ago, when he played nine games.

Rojas was again great in the field in 2024, but not quite at the level the Phillies might have imagined. His OAA jumped by two from last year, but his four defensive runs saved dropped from 15 despite playing over 500 more innings in center field. Rojas projected as a possible Platinum Glove winner this season, but he wasn’t even a finalist for the Gold Glove.

Must-read Phillies content

Phillies Nation has some great content coming out of Dave Dombrowski’s and Rob Thomson’s end-of-season press conferences: