It’s the beginning of MLB’s award season and four Philadelphia Phillies have been named 2023 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Finalists. The Phils’ finalists include C J.T. Realmuto, 2B Bryson Stott, P Taijuan Walker, and P Zack Wheeler. Baseball’s most prestigious fielding award, the 2023 Rawlings Gold Glove Award will be presented in conjunction with ESPN’s Baseball Tonight on Sunday, November 5 at 7:30 PM ET.
Of the group, Realmuto is the only player to have previously won the award having won it in 2019 and 2022, respectively. Realmuto will be looking to win the award for the second consecutive season, however he will face a challenge from San Francisco’s Patrick Bailey and Arizona’s Gabriel Moreno. He would be the first Phillie to win back-to-back Gold Glove Awards since Jimmy Rollins, who won three consecutive awards from 2007-2009.
Stott, who moved to second base prior to the 2023 MLB regular season, has a chance to be the first Phillies’ second baseman to win the award since Manny Trillo won back-to-back awards in 1981 and 1982. Chicago’s Nico Hoerner and San Diego’s Ha-Seong Kim will challenge Stott for the award in 2023. Stott leads both in many of the major categories voters factor in such as Outs Above Average.
As for the pitchers, Walker and Wheeler are both vying for their first Gold Glove Award and were aided by Atlanta’s Max Fried’s injury plagued season. Fried, who won the award three-seasons in a row, is not eligible for 2023. Miami’s Jesus Luzardo is the other finalist for this season. The last Phillies pitcher to win the award was Steve Carlton, who won his only Gold Glove award in 1981.
While winning a Rawlings Gold Glove would be a tremendous achievement, something tells me the Phillies finalists are hoping to be celebrating something a bit more by November 5.
