The Phillies have not had the best offseason so far. After general manager Matt Klentak "stepped down", Phillies fans have been subject to a frustrating press conference from lame duck president Andy MacPhail that offered little optimism for the future. And now, two former Phillies once at the center of the Phillies rebuild have become Rawlings Gold Glove winners elsewhere.
Rawlings announced the awards Tuesday evening. Among the winners: former Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez and former Phillies shortstop J.P. Crawford. At one point the two looked like the double-play combination of the future for the Phillies.
This year's awards were decided not by voting from coaches and managers, but by statistics and data. Upon announcing the finalists in October, Rawlings described the change:
Due to the compressed 2020 season, the Award qualifications have been amended to rely solely on the SDI which draws on and aggregates two types of existing defensive metrics: those derived from batted ball location-based data and those collected from play-by-play accounts. SDI utilizes MLBAM's Statcast, Sports Information Solutions data, and STATS, LLC data as well as traditional statistics with advanced analysis. For 2020 Award consideration, pitchers must have pitched at least 50 innings, catchers must have played in at least 29 games and infielders/outfielders must have completed at least 265 defensive innings. Each player qualifies at the position he has played at most (SDI is only for play at qualified position).
Hernandez departed the Phillies as a free agent to the Cleveland Indians, while Crawford was traded to the Seattle Mariners as part of the Carlos Santana contract dump that saw Jean Segura coming to Philadelphia.
Hernandez is a free agent once again, while Crawford remains under Seattle control for four more seasons.
