In an analytically inclined baseball world, it's odd for the numbers to only win part way.
The Gold Glove Awards were announced Sunday night, and the Toronto Blue Jays had one finalist who definitely should've won but didn't.
Ty France did win the Gold Glove at first base after his trade deadline move from the Minnesota Twins to Toronto. But at catcher, Alejandro Kirk didn't win. And at both third base and utility, Ernie Clement didn't win.
MORE: Clayton Kershaw's retirement from Dodgers ends with historic pitch
Kirk lost out at catcher to Dillon Dingler of the Detroit Tigers.
Dingler had a strong season, but it truly doesn't make sense. He ended up with a Fielding Run Value, via Baseball Savant, of 12. Kirk's Fielding Run Value was second in all of baseball at 22.
Kirk was worth 16 runs via framing, while Dingler was 7. Dingler had better throwing run value, 2-0. But then Kirk outdid him in blocking, 5-2.
At 5-foot-8 and 245 pounds, Kirk may not look like he'd be a great defender. But he was the most valuable defensive player in the AL this season and didn't even get the Gold Glove.
Clement was nominated for two Gold Gloves. At third base, it's fair that he lost out to Kansas City's Maikel Garcia, who was a top-10 defender in MLB this season.
MORE: Shohei Ohtani's clock controversy wasn't worth it on a historic night
It's also fair to have lost to Mauricio Dubon at utility, with Dubon beating Clement in Fielding Run Value, 17-10. Dubon played every position this season but catcher, while Clement just played the infield spots.
It's quite unlucky for Clement to be nominated at two different spots and not win, though. It says something about the general views of Clement's defense, and feels like somehow, being a finalist at two positions should result in some kind of award.
In the end, France is the only one to get an award, and not Kirk or Clement.
More World Series news:
- Andy Pages made the catch of his life to preserve the World Series
- Bo Bichette admits thoughts about leaving Toronto after World Series
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto with insane Game 6, 7 history
- Will Smith extends improbable World Series streak for his name
- Ernie Clement with the most prolific hitting postseason ever
- World Series Game 7 reminds us why we love sports