Having concluded the MLB season with the World Series won by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the time has come for the off-season for the top North American baseball championship, made up of market movements and prizes.
The first round of prizes concerns the assignment of Gold Glovesrecognition aimed at the best defenders by position in the two leagues. Fourteen players received the award for the first time in their careers. Among these is the 24-year-old from Boston Salvatore “Sal” Frelickwho won the award in his first full season in MLB after debuting last year during the current season.
The Italian-American player, protagonist in 2023 at World Baseball Classic wearing the uniform of our national team, he played 145 matches as a starter for the Milwaukee Brewers dividing himself between the right winger – a position he held for 106 games -, the center winger (30 games, 24 as a starter) and the left winger (24 games, 21 as a starter).
In addition to the traditional statistics (6 defensive assists in addition to a fielding percentage of .992 on 1574.1 defensive snaps), what exalts Frelick are the more modern and advanced statistics such as “defensive runs saved” (16 are in the right fielder) and “outs above average” (6, the highest among National League right fielders).
The Italian international also shined in the batter’s box and on the bases (18 steals on 21 attempts) and is coming off his second division title with the Brewers this year and his second Wild Card Series (the Brewers were eliminated in three games by the New York Mets).
Below are the winners of the Rawlings Gold Gloves:
American League
Cal Raleigh (C, Seattle Mariners), Carlos Santana (1B, Minnesota Twins), Andrés Gimenez (2B, Cleveland Guardians), Bobby Witt Jr (SS, Kansas City Royals), Alex Bregman (3B, Houston Astros), Steven Kwan (LF, Cleveland Guardians), Daulton Varsho (CF, Toronto Blue Jays), Wilyer Abreu (RF, Boston Red Sox), Seth Lugo (P, Kansas City Royals), Dylan Moore (UT, Seattle Mariners).
National League
Patrick Bailey (C, San Francisco Giants), Christian Walker (1B, Arizona Diamondbacks), Brice Turang (2B, Milwaukee Brewers), Ezequiel Tovar (SS, Colorado Rockies), Matt Chapman (3B, San Francisco Giants), Ian Happ (LF, Chicago Cubs), Brenton Doyle (CF, Colorado Rockies), Sal Frelick (RF, Milwaukee Brewers), Chris Sale (P, Atlanta Braves), Jared Triolo (UT, Pittsburgh Pirates).
Photo: Sal Frelick awaits a pitch in the match between Japan and Italy valid for the Quarterfinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Credit: RL-IABF.
Luca Giangrande
