SAN DIEGO -- After a season full of highlight-reel plays and sensational home run robberies, Fernando Tatis Jr.’s glove is once again golden.
The Padres’ right fielder took home his second Rawlings Gold Glove Award on Sunday, when Major League Baseball announced its winners. He was the only Padres finalist.
Tatis finished with 15 defensive runs saved, tied with Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong for the most among all National League outfielders. Tatis was worth nine outs above average.
Clearly, the metrics do Tatis’ defensive season plenty of justice. The eye test does, too. In addition to his remarkable arm strength and his outstanding range, Tatis turned in an absurd stretch in which he robbed four home runs in the span of only 27 games at Petco Park from July through September.
Tatis’ Gold Glove is a testament to his bounce-back from a 2024 season in which he dealt with a stress reaction in his right leg throughout the summer. He won the 2023 Platinum Glove Award, as the NL’s top defender overall, but regressed in '24 as he battled injury.
Now that he has recovered fully, Tatis is back as one of the game’s best defenders. The Platinum Glove Award will be announced on Friday, and Tatis is one of a handful of candidates to win it in the NL.
With his second Gold Glove Award, Tatis becomes the fifth Padres outfielder to win multiple Gold Glove Awards, joining Tony Gwynn, Steve Finley, Dave Winfield and Trent Grisham. Still in the prime of his career, Tatis has a chance to join Gwynn as the only Padres outfielders with more than two. Gwynn won five, from 1986-87 and 1989-91.