Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia win 2025 AL Gold Glove Awards
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- Royals built defense around Bobby Witt Jr.; he won his second consecutive AL Gold Glove.
- Maikel Garcia earned his first AL Gold Glove at third base, boosting infield depth.
- Both players qualify for 2025 Platinum Gold Glove voting; fans can cast ballots.
The Kansas City Royals are built with a defensive focus. And on Sunday, a pair of Royals were selected as 2025 American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners.
Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. won his second consecutive Gold Glove at the shortstop position. This season, Witt ranked second among AL shortstops in assists (382) and fielding percentage (.983).
Witt, 25, also committed just 10 errors — second-fewest among AL shortstops. He frequently used his defensive range to thwart potential baserunners and was also elite at chasing down shallow fly balls.
The Royals confidently tailored their defense around Witt. He starred as the defensive anchor at the keystone position and a safety blanket for the pitching staff.
“The work that Bobby puts in — when you are already at such an elite level — to continue to want to strive to get better, that gets really challenging because there aren’t a million things that you can work on,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said during the 2025 season. “The work becomes more minute with attention to detail. But (Witt) still is putting it in with good energy and good focus. That’s really impressive with a guy like Bob.”
Witt formed an elite defensive tandem alongside All-Star teammate Maikel Garcia at third base. Both infielders routinely shut down the left-side of the diamond.
And now, Garcia has joined Witt with his first AL Gold Glove Award.
Garcia developed all aspects of his game in 2025. He made strides offensively and became more efficient at third base. Garcia, 25, made 130 starts at third, with a .980 fielding percentage and 105 putouts.
One of Garcia’s hallmarks is his dynamic arm strength. As a natural shortstop, he has utilized his skillset to make difficult plays look routine at the hot corner.
“He’s adapted to playing a really difficult position at a really high level in a short amount of time,” Quatraro said. “The work that he has put in — he and (Royals infield coach) Jose (Alguacil) have developed a great relationship — the way they attack the details.
“What’s impressive to me is that he has that fearlessness that you have to have to play really well at third base.”
Garcia is the first Royal to win a Gold Glove at third base since Hall of Famer George Brett in 1985.
The Royals had three Gold Glove finalists this season. Outfielder Kyle Isbel was not selected among the center-field nominees. But he, too, had a fine season, with a .997 fielding percentage at the position.
KC has now had 42 Gold Glove winners (18 different players) in the history of the franchise. Witt became the first two-time Gold Glove recipient at shortstop in club history.
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners were announced on ESPN. Fans can still get involved to vote on the next phase for the recipients.
Both Witt and Garcia will be eligible for the Rawlings Platinum Gold Glove. Voting is now open until Wednesday, Nov. 5 for the award. The Platinum Gold Glove is given to the top defensive player in each league.
Last season, Cal Raleigh (American League) and Brice Turang (Milwaukee Brewers) won the 2024 Platinum Gold Glove.
The 2025 Platinum Gold Glove winner will be announced on Friday, Nov. 7 at the Rawlings Gold Glove Award ceremony in New York.
This story was originally published November 2, 2025 at 9:01 PM.
