For the next two weeks we will be writing a two-part series examining who the likely 2016 Fielding Bible Award contenders are. We will also be giving our predictions for the Gold Glove winners at every position in each league. This week, for Part I, we will be looking at catchers and infielders. Next week, in part II, we will examine who the contenders are for the pitcher, outfielders, and multi-positional awards. (Note: In all of the tables below, the numbers next to the players’ names represent their Defensive Runs Saved totals.)
Catcher:
No catcher came close to Buster Posey this season in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). The 2015 Fielding Bible Award winner led all catchers this year with 23. Posey saved runs in every single category for catchers. The only other catcher to do this was Carlos Perez. Almost half of Posey's DRS came from his ability to frame pitches (11) to obtain extra strike calls from the umpire. He was tied with Russell Martin for third in this ability behind Yasmani Grandal and Tyler Flowers.
While Posey should be a clear-cut winner for the Gold Glove in the National League, will his defensive performance be enough for Rawlings to replace their entrenched eight-time winner, Yadier Molina? Molina finished 14th in DRS in 2016. Over in the American League, Salvador Perez has won the Gold Glove for each of the past three seasons despite his overall DRS catcher rankings of 12th in 2014 and 18th in 2015. In 2016, Salvador Perez had another pedestrian season defensively. He finished tied for 13th overall with only three Runs Saved. The skill that Perez struggled the most with was his pitch framing, costing his team eight runs with that aspect of his game.