Gomez honored for spectacular defensive season
MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers' first Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner in 31 years was honored by a rival equipment maker on Thursday, when Carlos Gomez was named Milwaukee's defensive player of the year by Wilson.
Gomez won the same honor in 2012, the inaugural year of the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards. One player is honored per club, and from that list one player is named an overall winner in each league, and one club from each league is named defensive team of the year.
According to Wilson, winners were determined by using a formula that balances scouting information, sabermetric analysis and basic fielding statistics. This year's individual overall winners, announced Thursday evening on MLB Network, were Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia in the American League and D-backs outfielder Gerardo Parra in the National League. The Royals and Orioles were named the AL's best defensive teams in a tie, and the D-backs won on the NL side.
Gomez was an easy choice for the Brewers. Last month, he became the first Brewers player to win a Gold Glove Award since Robin Yount in 1982, and only the second outfielder in Brewers history so honored (Sixto Lezcano was the other, in 1979). Milwaukee's 30-year Gold Glove Award drought was the longest in the 57-year history of that award.
Gomez recorded a career-high 12 outfield assists in 2013, which trailed only the Mets' Juan Lagares (14) for the Major League lead among center fielders. He also made at least four and perhaps five home run-saving catches, and did not commit an error over his last 32 games.
Add it up, and Gomez was credited with 38 defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs.com's measure, trailing only Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons in the Majors.
Besides the awards from Rawlings and Wilson, Gomez was also honored by John Dewan's Fielding Bible as the top defensive center fielder in baseball.
The GIBBY trophy for Defensive Player of the Year, for which Gomez is nominated, will be awarded as part of the 2013 Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards, which are based on voting by media, front-office personnel, MLB alumni and the Society for American Baseball Research, as well as fan balloting on MLB.com.
Through Sunday, Dec. 1, fans will be able to cast their ballots at MLB.com for the year's top defensive star, with no individual league affiliation.