Kyle Seager wins Rawlings® Gold Glove at third base
Seager led Major League third basemen with a .981 fielding percentage.
SEATTLE, Wash. - Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager has been selected as the winner of the 2014 Rawlings® American League Gold Glove, announced today by the Rawlings Sporting Goods Company and Major League Baseball.
Seager was one of three finalists for the American League Gold Glove at third base with Josh Donaldson (Oakland) and Adrian Beltre (TEX). Fellow Mariners Robinson Cano (2B) and Felix Hernandez (P) were also finalists at their position but did not win.
Seager, who turned 27 yesterday, had the highest fielding percentage amongst qualifying Major League third basemen in 2014 at .981 (8 E, 422 TC), the 10th-best mark by an AL third baseman dating back to 1948.
"It is an honor to just be up for the award with all the great third basemen, let alone win the Gold Glove," said Seager. "I really owe a lot to my coaches, especially Chris Woodward. He helped me tremendously."
He made 157 starts at the hot corner, trailing only Miami's Casey McGehee (158) and ranked 2nd in the Majors in assists (327), double plays (36) and innings played (1402.0). The Fielding Bible also showed that Seager led all Major League third basemen in good throws to first with a 96.6-percent "good throw" rate and he led the AL at his position with a plus-24 rating in runs saved via Baseball-Reference.com.
Seager becomes the first Mariners player to earn a Gold Glove since Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez in 2010. The Mariners had at least one Gold Glove winner in 24 consecutive seasons from 1987-2010. Seager is the second third baseman in club history to win a Gold Glove, joining Adrian Beltre (2x, 2007-2008).
Seager is now part of the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award fan vote on www.Rawlings.com, which will last one day ending at 5 p.m. PT tomorrow.
The Rawlings® Gold Glove Award is presented annually to 18 players, one for each position, in both the American and National Leagues. The selection process is based approximately via 75% votes by manager and coaches (up to 7 per team, can't vote for players on own team) and 25% based on the SABR Defensive Index (statistical based).