Two Former Fightins Secure Gold Gloves
Last night, César Hernández and J.P. Crawford were awarded the top defensive award for their respective positions. Both athletes played for the Reading Fightin Phils at the start of their careers and received the call up to the Philadelphia Phillies before moving to other organizations. Hernández, of the Cleveland Indians,
Last night, César Hernández and J.P. Crawford were awarded the top defensive award for their respective positions. Both athletes played for the Reading Fightin Phils at the start of their careers and received the call up to the Philadelphia Phillies before moving to other organizations.
Hernández, of the Cleveland Indians, won his first Gold Glove at second base. He played the most games at this position with 58 of 60 under his belt. Hernández also recorded the most assists with 139, while adding 67 of his own personal putouts. He only has four errors to his name and participated in 33 double plays. He saved six defensive runs which was the deciding factor of some games.
During his time with the Fightin’s in 2012 he was a pretty solid infielder only making 15 errors in 879 innings played. Hernández was called up in 2013, but split time between the Triple-A and Double-A affiliates. Often named an All-Star player in the minors, Hernández also received the MLBPAA Heart and Hustle award back in 2018. When his contract was up, he chose free agency and was picked up by Cleveland. Now, once again, Hernández is a free agent.
Crawford, the Seattle Mariners shortstop, played 53 games at his position in 2020. Throughout the shortened season he only committed three errors for a .986 fielding percentage. Crawford helped secure 31 double plays and personally made 73 outs. He notched six defensive runs saved, the second most at shortstop.
Two-time Futures Game Selection and All-Star multiple seasons in the minor leagues, Crawford was a promising prospect. He has come a long way since then. He made a giant leap defensively since his time in Reading, making far fewer errors, while increasing his time on the field. Crawford played with the R-Phils back in 2015 and 2016 before being called up in 2017 to Philadelphia. He was traded away to Seattle with Carlos Santana for Jean Segura and two relief pitchers.
A handful of defensive metrics go into the selection process, including both the simplistic stats and advanced analytics. These range from errors and putouts to data such as Defensive Wins Above Replacement (dWAR), which notes the value of a player as opposed to their replacement, specifically in the field and Defensive Runs Saved, which balances out the number of runs a player cost or saved his team in the field. Essentially, did a player make a play another could not and did they give up a run in preventable situation.
Typically, both the Society for American Baseball Research and managers and coaches vote on this award. Due to the shortened season, only the SABR chose the 2020 Gold Glove recipients. “The Rawlings Gold Glove Award were based on a collection of defensive metrics known as the SABR Defensive Index, which combines several methods of estimating defensive performance statistically,” said David Schoenfield a Senior Writer at ESPN.
In honor of these achievements, the Reading Fightin Phils team store will be featuring their J.P. Crawford bobblehead for 10% off with the promo code CRAWFORD. Don’t miss out as this offer is only valid from November 4th to the 6th.