Gordon, Salvy add to Gold Glove glory

KANSAS CITY -- Left fielder Alex Gordon and catcher Salvador Perez will have to clear off a little more space on their mantels.
On Sunday night, Gordon captured his sixth Rawlings Gold Glove Award, while Perez nabbed his fifth.
Gordon, who won Gold Gloves from 2011-2014 and in 2017, had another superb year statistically in left field -- he registered nine assists, his most since 2013 (17), and he was three behind the Major League leaders.
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Gordon, 34, now has 91 career assists -- tied with Colorado's Gerardo Parra for the most in MLB since 2010.
"I'm honored to win the Gold Glove this year, and excited to share this award with Salvy," Gordon said. "Every day I work with [outfield coach] Mitch Maier to be the best defender I can be on a daily basis. I'm happy to share this award with my coaches, teammates and the Royals."
Gordon also ranked No. 24 in 2018 among all outfielders with at least 250 chances with plus-2 outs above average -- a metric that measures the cumulative effect of all individual catch probability plays a fielder is credited or debited with.
Perez, 28, also won Gold Gloves from 2013-2016. Many scouts thought Perez had the best defensive season of his career in 2018.
"I want to give thanks to God for blessing me every day, my family and my coach, Pedro Grifol," Perez said. "They all have been a huge part of all of my success and accomplishments in my career. Without their help and support I wouldn't be where I am at today. It was a tough year with two injuries, but my love for the game helped me to stay strong. It's a huge honor to receive another Gold Glove."
Perez nailed 48 percent (25 of 52) of would-be base-stealers, matching his career-best from 2016. Among catchers who played in at least 50 games, Perez's 48 percent caught-stealing ranked second in MLB behind Martín Maldonado (49 percent), who won the Gold Glove in 2017.
Perez's average pop time to second base of 1.98 seconds ranked ninth among all qualified MLB catchers. His average pop time to third base of 1.53 seconds was fourth best. And his average exchange time (time it takes to catch and release) was third best at .68 seconds.