Brewers Miss Out On 2025 Gold Glove Awards

[Jason Wang]

Over the past few years, Milwaukee has built a reputation for being a scrappy squad of underdogs powered by hustle and love for the game. In addition to being a euphemism for finding a lot of success with a shoestring budget and no superstars, it also means playing great defense. Chasing down tough fly balls, smothering choppers in the field, and being fundamentally sound are all traits that come to mind when thinking of the Brewers.

And for the past few years, there was considerable evidence to back that up. The team has consistently been among the best when it comes to accumulating Defensive Runs Saved and haven't placed below sixth in that category since 2020. They've also regularly brought home hardware for their efforts, winning the past two Team Gold Glove awards as well as several individual accolades. Unfortunately, that streak has come to an end.

Despite having two Gold Glove finalists, Brice Turang and Sal Frelick, neither was ultimately crowned the best defender at their position in the National League, losing out to Nico Hoerner and Fernando Tatis Jr. respectively. Neither of these results are surprising as Nico Hoerner comfortably led all second basemen in baseball in DRS (17), while Tatis had the most DRS of any National League right fielder (15). Turang and Frelick had strong defensive showings themselves, but they didn't do enough to bring home the proverbial bacon.

In fact, the Brewers as a whole seemed to take a step back this year when it came to fielding production. They combined for just 31 DRS, placing them 11th in MLB. Jackson Chourio, Isaac Collins, and Joey Ortiz accumulated negative DRS while other key starters like William Contreras and Andrew Vaughn accumulated zero.

At the end of the day, it's difficult to place too much stock in this given the somewhat convoluted logic behind how defensive metrics are calculated as well as the mercurial nature of a player's fielding abilities. Brandon Lockridge seems like a promising outfield glove, Joey Ortiz can and should bounce back on all fronts next year, and the rest of the team will likely continue to be solid. Expect some Gold Glove love to come Milwaukee's way in 2026.

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[Frisbee Slider]

For being the best regular season team in baseball, did we or will we win any individual awards in any category? 🙂

[wiguy94]

7 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

For being the best regular season team in baseball, did we or will we win any individual awards in any category? 🙂

Manager of the Year if that counts. Other than that nope and honestly don’t think there’s really an argument for any Brewers player to get an award this year.

[BrewerFan]

17 hours ago, Jason Wang said:

They combined for just 31 DRS, placing them 11th in MLB. Jackson Chourio, Isaac Collins, and Joey Ortiz accumulated negative DRS

First, on this part... this is not the most mature response, but this is stupid. 

I know, I know... "the eye test" is a bad way to judge a player when you have data, but... if you watch every game like most of us on here do, does anyone truly believe Ortiz was a NEGATIVE defender?

Ortiz is top ~10-15 in OAA... and I just watched him enough and I've seen other SS's. He's in that upper tier. 

I'll buy(barely) Chourio as he's still developing in the OF. He gets poor reads at times and doesn't know when to come in or play it safe(tends to play it safe). I think he's at his best in CF running down balls in the gap. I think it's easier to get a read on the ball. 

I'd even buy Collins. 

But Ortiz?

 

 

As for the Gold Gloves, I don't want to say it's a good thing no Brewers won one, but... it kinda is. Gone are the days of a guy starting 28 games at 1B and being named the Gold Glove winner because he was a really good hitter. The players that won them deserved them. 

 

[Jason Wang]

2 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

I know, I know... "the eye test" is a bad way to judge a player when you have data, but... if you watch every game like most of us on here do, does anyone truly believe Ortiz was a NEGATIVE defender?

It's a primary reason why defensive ability is so hard to measure. Stats like OAA and DRS seem to measure the same thing but have very different formulas and quite frequently lead to different results. A few examples of guys with major discrepancies:

• Bobby Witt Jr. - (24 OAA, 3 DRS)
• Masyn Winn - (21 OAA, 2 DRS)
• Steven Kwan - (22 DRS, 5 OAA)
• Zach Neto  - (13 DRS, -7 OAA)

Without the underlying data made public, it's pretty impossible to backsolve and figure out what plays Ortiz was actually punished for in DRS that he wasn't in OAA. I've tried to figure it out myself but without knowing the "fielding value" assigned to each batted ball instance and all the other stuff the wizards at MLB use to calculate everything, all I can do is report the listed numbers 😔

I should clarify that while a slight implication may have been made that the Brewers were worse defensively this year, I deliberately tried to avoid saying that the players (Chourio, Ortiz, and Collins) were bad defenders and just wanted to note that they did not grade well when it came to DRS.

Your frustrations are noted and I commiserate!

[BrewerFan]

20 minutes ago, Jason Wang said:

Your frustrations are noted and I commiserate!

Most importantly... in this context, they're not at ALL directed toward you. Good article... and those are just the facts. Writers use DRS and OAA and they have to choose what they rely on.

I was SOLELY critiquing the metric, grades...however they arrived at it.

20 minutes ago, Jason Wang said:

I should clarify that while a slight implication may have been made that the Brewers were worse defensively this year, I deliberately tried to avoid saying that the players (Chourio, Ortiz, and Collins) were bad defenders and just wanted to note that they did not grade well when it came to DRS.

Again, it was fair and I thought it was pretty clear they were worse this year. Last years team was incredible defensively... particularly with Bauers at 1B(you really talk about throwing guys over there, but you appreciate the impact a really good defender at 1B can make).

I thought(just eye test) you could see some players regress a bit. Turang... still an outstanding 2B, but he played a little SS. Seemed like he was pressing. Didn't play great there. Also some errors or misplays I didn't see last year.

Contreras, 3B as a position. Ortiz was outstanding last year. Durbin was awesome for what we expected, but I wouldn't say over the course of the year he was a great 3B, just great relative to expectations. Last year Adames was the "anchor" pulling our defense down per DRS and... that was another I thought was silly, but still, I thought maybe that was Ortiz getting to so many balls... as is the rule at 3rd, if you can get to it, it's yours. And it really hurt Adames who may be at his strongest going back in the hole, backhanding a ball and then firing it to 1B. 

 

I love what our defense looks like going forward. Almost every prospect SHOULD be able to handle their position defensively save for maybe Wilken, Adams, possibly Fischer if they're 3B. But they should be 1B/LF and Lara, Pratt, Quero, Made, those three at 1B... elite defense should be a staple of Brewers baseball for a while. 

[Thurston Fluff]

8 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

First, on this part... this is not the most mature response, but this is stupid. 

I know, I know... "the eye test" is a bad way to judge a player when you have data, but... if you watch every game like most of us on here do, does anyone truly believe Ortiz was a NEGATIVE defender?

Ortiz is top ~10-15 in OAA... and I just watched him enough and I've seen other SS's. He's in that upper tier. 

I'll buy(barely) Chourio as he's still developing in the OF. He gets poor reads at times and doesn't know when to come in or play it safe(tends to play it safe). I think he's at his best in CF running down balls in the gap. I think it's easier to get a read on the ball. 

I'd even buy Collins. 

But Ortiz?

 

 

As for the Gold Gloves, I don't want to say it's a good thing no Brewers won one, but... it kinda is. Gone are the days of a guy starting 28 games at 1B and being named the Gold Glove winner because he was a really good hitter. The players that won them deserved them. 

 

Considering the two systems disagree on value I think this is one area where the eye test still has equal value. At this stage the value of defensive metrics are in the attempt more than the result. Medicine had to go through the five humors and blood letting stage to get to where it is today. We're just at the "fetch me a leech" stage with defensive metrics.

I agree it's good to see gold gloves be taken more seriously now. 

[Michael Trzinski]

2 hours ago, Thurston Fluff said:

 "...fetch me a leech..."

Haha, good one!