The Cincinnati Reds were one of Major League Baseball’s weakest defensive clubs in 2024. If you’re reading this article, you’re presumably already aware of it. The Reds were ranked as the 26th best defensive team in the league by Fangraphs, ahead of only the Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago White Sox. Rawlings and Major League Baseball have announced the finalists for the 2024 Gold Glove Awards, and there are no Cincinnati Reds among them.
This is the fourth consecutive year that the team has not had a Gold Glove finalist. Tucker Barnhart won Cincinnati’s last Gold Glove in 2020. That was his second Gold Glove, having previously received the honor in 2017. However, Barnhart was not the only Reds player to be named a nominee for the award in 2020. Shogo Akiyama was also named a finalist for the Gold Glove that year.
Returning to 2024, there wasn’t much reason for anyone on the team to be a finalist for the award, with one exception. And it will rile up some of the commenters. Elly De La Cruz was one of baseball’s most valuable defensive players, according to both Fangraphs and Baseball Savant (Statcast) defensive measures.
Fangraphs evaluated De La Cruz as a +16.7 defender, errors included. That ranked third in the National League at the position (and fourth overall in the NL, with Giants catcher Patrick Bailey in first place, followed by four shortstops). According to Baseball Savant, De La Cruz had a Fielding Run Value of +11 runs, which tied him for third best at shortstop in the National League with Ezequiel Tovar.
The three National League finalists at shortstop were Dansby Swanson of the Chicago Cubs, Ezequiel Tovar of the Colorado Rockies, and Masyn Winn of the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s difficult to argue with Swanson, who led the Fangraphs and Baseball Savant rankings at the position. Tovar was tied for third place at Fangraphs, one decimal point below De La Cruz who was placed fourth. However, Winn was low down the list, ranking seventh at Fangraphs (and at around half the value of anyone in the top four) and fifth at Baseball Savant (and at only +3, whereas the top four were all +11 or better).
Francisco Lindor and Elly De La Cruz were ranked second and third on both lists, respectively, but were not among the finalists. It would be comprehensible if one of them was replaced by Ezequiel Tovar, who shared many of their principles. But it feels strange that they were both omitted off the list but Masyn Winn was included.
A two-step process is used to choose finalists and winners. Managers and coaches across the league vote. They are not allowed to vote for players on their own team, and they only vote for players in their league. Those votes account for 75% of the selection. The other 25% of it is made up by the SABR defensive index.
Whatever they utilize appears to differ from what Fangraphs and Baseball Savant are coming up with. The system they utilize is not entirely clear, with the webpage explaining it only mentioning that they use numerous different metrics/sources to calculate their results.
No matter how you slice it, the Reds’ defense as a whole is terrible. According to the analytics, they may only have had one or two defensive players that were above-average: Elly De La Cruz and Tyler Stephenson. They will need to improve on it by 2025 if they want to win more. Some of this can be attributed to the front office, which has purchased inexperienced defenders and a lack of players with experience playing the positions in which they have been required to compete.
However, part of this is also injury-related. TJ Friedl is a competent defender, but following his injury this season, he wasn’t as quick when he returned to the field. You could see it in the outfield and at the plate, where he ceased bunting for much of the year despite it being an important part of his offense throughout his career. His sprint speed in 2023 was significantly higher than average, while in 2024 it was slightly lower. A healthy Friedl should help the defense somewhat.
Then there’s Matt McLain, who was an above-average fielder in his debut year but missed the entire 2024 season. Â Jonathan India filled in admirably at second base and showed significant improvement from his previous defensive performance, he still
Counting on the health of those two guys, or anyone for that matter, is a risky proposition. Depth is somewhat important here. However, having multiple good fielders in your starting lineup is also beneficial. Can the Reds do anything this offseason to improve things? It will be a wait-and-see situation, but there is work to be done if the franchise is serious about making a playoff push.
