Benintendi and Taylor uphold the Gold standard for the Kansas City Royals’ outfield
Kansas City Royals outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Michael A. Taylor each won their first career Gold Glove awards as the American League’s top defensive player at their respective positions on Sunday night.
The Royals have had at least one Gold Glove award winner in each of the last 11 seasons, the longest active streak in Major League Baseball.
The winners were revealed via a live telecast on ESPN. The Rawlings Gold Glove awards were voted on by the managers of the 30 MLB teams and up to six of each team’s respective coaches. Managers and coaches cannot vote for players from their own team.
Taylor, perhaps the best defensive center fielder in the majors, and Benintendi, who replaced legendary left fielder Alex Gordon in Kansas City, won the honors in their first season with the Royals.
Taylor signed as a free agent late last November, while the Royals acquired Benintendi from the Boston Red Sox in a February trade shortly before spring training.
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) released it’s defensive ratings following the announcements. Both Taylor and Benintendi were the top-rated defenders at their positions this season. Taylor was the second-highest rated defender in the majors at any position.
Taylor had previously been a National League Gold Glove finalist in center field with the Washington Nationals.
This season, Taylor led all MLB center fielders with 19 defensive runs saved, 15 outs above average and 11 outfield assists while patrolling the largest outfield in the AL.
He also recorded the second-highest defensive runs saved total of any player in the majors. His career-high 11 outfield assists were the most by a Royals center fielder since Melky Cabrera had 13 in 2011.
Taylor also posted the third-best fielding percentage among AL center fielders (.992). He also led all defenders in the majors in ultimate zone rating (UZR), a metric that aims to measure the combined impact of a defensive player’s arm, range and ability to avoid errors.
Taylor registered a UZR of 13.3 this season. The next highest in the majors belonged to Oakland Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman with a rating of 8.7.
His defensive brilliance also earned him recognition as the top defender at center field, regardless of league, by Sports Info Solutions’ annual Fielding Bible Awards.
Benintendi started 129 games in left field. He tied for the AL lead in defensive runs saved (seven) among left fielders. His six outfield assists ranked second among AL left fielders, and he made multiple home run-saving catches at the wall in left field.
Despite a stint on the injured list with a fractured rib, Benintendi led AL left fielders in starts, innings (1,116), total chances (234), putouts (225) and fielding percentage (.987).
Benintendi and Taylor joined former Royals great defenders Amos Otis, Al Cowens, Willie Wilson, Jermaine Dye and Gordon as the only outfielders in franchise history to win Gold Gloves.
The outfield Gold Gloves were not officially designated by position until 2011. The Royals have now won nine of the 11 honors in left field since that time, Gordon having won eight and matched legendary second baseman Frank White’s franchise record.
The Royals had four players among the finalists at the nine defensive positions in the AL.
Catcher and five-time Gold Glove winner Salvador Perez and second baseman Whit Merrifield was also a finalist. Merrifield was a finalist for the first time in his career. Oakland’s Sean Murphy won the catcher’s award. Toronto’s Marcus Semien won the second base Gold Glove.
Both Benintendi and Taylor are eligible for the Rawlings Platinum as the top defender in each league.
Voting for the Platinum Glove began online Sunday night. The Platinum Glove winners will be determined by a combination of a national fan vote and the SABR Defensive Index. Those winners will be announced on Friday.
Last year, Gordon won his second Platinum Glove award in his final season.
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 8:46 PM.
