Pratto named 2021 Rawlings Gold Glove Award® winner

Pratto earns fourth Rawlings Gold Glove Award® in franchise history

(Photo Credit: Minda Haas Kuhlmann)

November 12, 2021

PAPILLION, Neb. -- Storm Chasers first baseman Nick Pratto has been named the 2021 Minor League recipient of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® at first base, Minor League Baseball and Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. announced Friday. The announcement was made during Friday's MLB Network broadcast of the 2021 Defensive

Pratto, who played 63 games—including his Triple-A debut—with Omaha in 2021, posted 375 putouts and 28 assists in 404 total chances at first base while helping to turn 43 double plays. In 113 total games between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha, Pratto recorded 813 putouts and 64 assists in 879 total chances, committing just two errors in 955.2 innings at first base for a .998 fielding percentage. His fielding percentage is the highest among the nine players to earn a Minor League Rawlings Gold Glove Award® in 2021.

Pratto is the fourth player in franchise history to be named a Minor League recipient of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award®, joining Luis Alcaraz (2B, 1969), Rudy Kinard (SS, 1978), and Derrick Robinson (OF, 2012). A first-round pick (14th overall) by Kansas City in 2014, Pratto entered the season rated as the Best Defensive Infielder among Royals' minor leaguers according to Baseball America and was listed as the Best Defensive First Baseman in Double-A Central by the publication in its annual Best Tools survey in September.

The winners at each position were selected from players in the 11 full-season Minor Leagues. Each player will receive his own Rawlings Gold Glove Award—modeled after the award given to Major League Baseball’s top defensive players—during the 2022 season. Kansas City is one of two organizations (Atlanta) to have two players in their organization named as 2021 Minor League recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award®.

"These nine players displayed tremendous defensive skills in 2021 and we are pleased to recognize them with Rawlings Gold Glove Awards,” said Peter Woodfork, Major League Baseball’s Senior Vice President, Minor League Operations and Development. “On behalf of Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and our great partners at Rawlings, I congratulate each of the winners for their outstanding seasons.”

“We’d like to welcome the 2021 Minor League recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® to a special class of defensive greats deemed ‘The Finest in the Field’,” said Mike Thompson, chief marketing officer for Rawlings. “Rawlings values our long-standing partnership with Minor League Baseball and our shared focus on growing the game of baseball while emphasizing defensive excellence.”

The full list of 2021 Minor League Rawlings Gold Glove Award® winners is as follows:

C - Adley Rutschman (BAL)
1B - Nick Pratto (KC)
2B - Michael Massey (KC)
3B - Jared Triolo (PIT)
SS - Jose Tena (CLE)
OF - Christian Pache (ATL)
OF - Brenton Doyle (COL)
OF - Mike Harris II (ATL)
P - Drey Jameson (ARI)

Ticket packages for the 2022 season, as well as Chasers Blue Books and undated voucher packs, are available for purchase through the Werner Park Ticket Office. For more information, visit omahastormchasers.com or call the Werner Park Ticket Office at (402) 738-5100 and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.