Brendan Rodgers wins Gold Glove at second base

Colorado Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers was awarded his first career Rawlings Gold Glove on Tuesday night. The 26-year-old former third-overall pick beat out fellow National League nominees Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals and Jake Cronenworth of the San Diego Padres.

Brendan Rodgers overcame a brutal slump for the entire month of April and ended up having a banner year as an everyday starter. Rodgers not only started the most games of his young career (135), but completed his transition from shortstop—the position he was drafted as—to second baseman. Of his 135 starts, 133 were at second base and two were as the designated hitter. Prior to this season he had split time between the two middle infield positions.

Rodgers cemented himself as one of the best second baseman in the league this season, and now he has the hardware to prove it. Rodgers’ 22 DRS was not only the best among all second basemen in MLB, but also the second best DRS among all MLB players. His Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) was the best among all MLB second basemen while his UZR/150 was second best. Rodgers also handily beats his competition among the other nominees. While he has more errors and a lower fielding percentage, he has over 100 more assists than Cronenworth and 200 more than Edman. The important context is that the Rockies are a team that relies heavily on ground ball outs. This creates more opportunities for assists, but also for errors.

Rodgers also earned this year’s Fielding Bible Award for second baseman, the first Rockies 2B to win since DJ LeMahieu.

Brendan Rodgers is also nominated for the 2022 Silver Slugger Award for National League second basemen. The results for that award will be known on November 10th.