With one fielding award already in his back pocket, St. Louis Cardinal Kolten Wong hopes to snare another Sunday.
Hilo’s Wong is a Gold Glove finalist at second base in the National League along with Colorado’s D.J. LeMahieu and Chicago Cubs infielder Javy Baez.
In August, Wong made it known he thought he deserved the honor, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I think MLB should realize if I don’t win the Gold Glove there is something wrong with it.
“It needs to be somebody who deserves it instead of a publicity contest,” he said. “And sometimes you know that’s how it goes. I was disappointed last year. We’ll see. I’m not holding my breath if I’m a Gold Glove-winner or not. In my heart, I know I am.”
The Gold Glove Awards will be unveiled at 4 p.m. Sunday in an hour-long presentation on ESPN.
Earlier in the week, the Wong won Fielding Bible’s honor as the finest defensive player in the major leagues, edging LeMahieu in one of the closest votes of the year, according to Baseball Info Solutions.
Baez, who started at second (75 games), shortstop (52) and third (18), claimed his third consecutive multi-position Fielding Bible Award.
Balloting for the Gold Glove Award includes votes from each manager and six coaches from their staff who cannot vote for players from their own team, and a sabermetric component accounts for 25 percent of the overall voting total.
According to fieldingbible.com, Wong had 19 Defensive Runs Saved in 2018, the most among second basemen, though LeMahieu has 18.
The site said of Wong: “He excels going to his left handling batted balls in the hole between first and second, as good or better than anyone in baseball. On top of that, he did very well going the other way with an (89 percent) success rate on plays he attempted to backhand in 2018.”
Wong committed nine errors in 119 games at second. LeMahieu, who has two Gold Glove to his credit (2014, 2017), made four errors in 128 games. Baez committed six errors in 118 games at second.