In 2016, the widely panned DC movie Suicide Squad was nominated for and ultimately won an Academy Award.
It was for “Best Makeup” which of course has nothing to do with how much of a mess and flop the rest of that film was, but viewers couldn’t help but remark on the oddity that such a disaster of a film ended up with an Oscar where many much better flicks have none.
Something about it didn’t feel right or fair but when you step back and compartmentalize it actually made perfect sense. That’s how awards work. They aren’t meant to reach beyond their specific category and sometimes it’s luck of the draw to see who you are up against that year.
So believe me when I say I understand how counterintuitive it feels to suggest that the Colorado Rockies, who have had a dreadful season, deserve some hardware. But they do.
Or at the very least, when it comes to their defense, almost their entire infield is deserving of being among the nominees who get to pretend to be happy when someone else’s name is ultimately called. Both corner guys find themselves in this position.
Ryan McMahon, over at the hot corner, is not having the same phenomenal season he did a year ago when he was arguably robbed of an award by former teammate Nolan Arenado. The now St. Louis Cardinals third baseman will be aiming for his ninth straight Gold Glove and may win it again despite the metrics suggesting that Ke’Bryan Hayes of the Pittsburgh Pirates deserves it more.
Hayes leads all of MLB with 39 Defensive Runs Saved, a full 14 ahead of Arenado at 25, and 16 ahead of McMahon at 23 but that is also the very clear and separated top three. Austin Riley comes in fourth with 18.
A rough first month and a half or so for McMahon, and only playing one position this season, left him well short of the monstrous numbers he put up a year ago when he likely would have won the newly minted GG for utility players. Sadly, it did not yet exist.
If he likely ends up coming away with no fancy trophy this time it will be fair, but he also belongs up there on the podium for the second year in a row.
Quietly, at first base, C.J. Cron has also placed himself in a great position, but it will be close, and he also almost certainly won’t and shouldn’t win.
Christian Walker of the Arizona Diamondbacks has put up a DRS of 21 which is massive for a 1B as evidenced by the fact that the next three in line aren’t even close. Paul Goldschmidt sits at 11 and Cron is right on his heels at 10.
This is especially gratifying for Cron who has publicly cited his desire to be a complete two-way player as one of the reasons he ended up coming to Colorado.
Again, this should be Walker’s award quite comfortably, but it would be nice to see Cron rewarded (er, nominated) for not being just a one-dimensional slugger who, yes, also was easily the Rockies best hitter throughout the season.
And then we come to the big one.
Brendan Rodgers should be your National League Gold Glove winner in 2022.
Marcus Semien, over in the American League, is the only other second baseman in the same stratosphere as Rodgers this season in terms of DRS, actually leading the pack with 20.
Rodgers leads the NL with 17… among qualified players. Tommy Edman hasn’t played enough innings yet and may not end up eligible for the award, but he has an impressive 18.
The next closest on the list is actually Rodgers’ own teammate McMahon with 8 who, come to think of it, might end up with that utility award after all despite only playing 449 innings at second.
If Edman is in the running, it’s a tossup between him and Colorado’s keystone player. Considering where Rodgers, and the Rockies in general, began the season defensively, that’s truly incredible.
Furthermore, for Rockies fans, this is a true revelation. The third overall pick in the draft, Rodgers has always been praised for his ability at the plate. And while that has shown up in moments, we are still waiting for the emergence of an impact bat.
However, not too many scouting reports saw him becoming this level of weapon with the glove. Following in the footsteps of McMahon before him and, dare I say it, Arenado before that, a young player known for his hitting has developed into a world class defender for the Colorado Rockies.