Switch to third nets Lee a Gold Glove nomination

The 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Award finalists were announced on Oct. 14, with the winners set to be unveiled on ESPN on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET. Each league has three finalists at each position, including the utility spot, which was awarded for the first time in 2022. A complete guide to baseball's 2026 awards season To determine the winners at the nine standard positions, 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team vote from a pool of players in their league, excluding players from their own team. These votes comprise 75% of the selection total, with the SABR Defensive Index counting for the other 25%. For the utility position, Rawlings collaborated with SABR to create a specialized defensive formula separate from the traditional selection process. All-time Gold Glove winners The Blue Jays and Cubs each have five nominees, the most of any club. The Braves, D-backs, Rangers and Royals have four apiece. Here are the 2026 Gold Glove Award finalists. Each position’s finalists are listed in alphabetical order. American League Pitcher Tanner Bibee , Guardians Jacob deGrom , Rangers José Soriano , Angels/Blue Jays None of these three pitchers has taken home a Gold Glove Award, making for an exciting competition. Looking at the advanced stats, Bibee has the edge in Defensive Runs Saved (+5). He also tied for second in the Majors with +9 net bases prevented, a Statcast metric designed to express the skill of pitchers at controlling the running game. Bibee’s and Soriano’s clubs, the Guardians and Blue Jays, have been heavily featured in this award this decade. Shane Bieber won for Cleveland in 2022, and José Berríos won for Toronto the following year. Catcher Dillon Dingler , Tigers Brandon Valenzuela , Blue Jays Austin Wells , Yankees Dingler has a strong case for the best all-around catcher in baseball, in no small part due to his elite defense. Dingler’s +17 Fielding Run Value (per Statcast) ranked tops among all catchers and was tied for third best among any defenders. He also led catchers with a +22.1 Defensive Rating, via FanGraphs. Dingler took home Gold Glove honors in 2025, so he’s looking to make it two straight years. Alejandro Kirk has long been one of the best defensive catchers in baseball and was joined by Valenzuela to make a dynamic duo in ‘26. In just 91 games as a rookie, Valenzuela ranked as a top five catcher in terms of Run Value (+11) and Defensive Rating (+13.6). Valenzuela excelled both at framing and throwing runners out. Wells has consistently been one of the better defensive catchers in baseball during his time in the Majors. He had a +10 Run Value in 2026, after posting a +12 figure in both 2024 and ‘25. Wells is an excellent pitch framer and also blocks pitches in the dirt with the best of them. First base Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , Blue Jays Vinnie Pasquantino , Royals Christian Walker , Astros Guerrero’s progression into one of the better defensive first basemen is a fascinating part of his journey. Whereas he was consistently below average for much of his career, Vlad Jr. flashed his newfound level of defense in the 2025 playoffs and had a career-best defensive season across the board in 2026. Guerrero is looking for his second award after winning it in 2022. Pasquantino was solid on both sides of the ball in 2026 and improved his defense after his metrics were down in ‘25. He’s looking to become the first Royals first baseman to win the award since Eric Hosmer in 2017. Walker is no stranger to the Gold Glove Award -- he won it in three straight years for the D-backs from 2022-24. He’s well established as one of the best defensive first basemen of his era and he’s still going strong. Second base Michael Massey , Royals Chase Meidroth , White Sox Cole Young , Mariners A Gold Glove winner in the Minor Leagues back in 2021 as the best defensive second baseman in all of the Minors, Massey is an MLB Gold Glove finalist for the first time in 2026. The Kansas City infielder proved his worth with +11 OAA, behind only Jazz Chisholm Jr. (+15) for the most among AL second basemen. While Massey had the edge in OAA, it was Meidroth who led all AL second basemen with a +10 FRV. Meidroth spent a majority of his time at shortstop as a rookie in 2025 (and still graded out as a plus defender in limited action there in ’26), but he proved to be excellent at the keystone in his second season. Get the latest from the Twins Have the latest news, ticket information, and more from the Twins and MLB delivered right to your inbox. Sign up Different metrics had considerably different opinions of Young’s defense in 2026. The Mariners second baseman was credited with +16 DRS -- tied for eighth in MLB -- but was tied for 35th of 42 qualifying players at his position with -5 OAA. Third base Caleb Durbin , Red Sox Brooks Lee , Twins Nick Loftin , Royals Durbin took a step up defensively in 2026 after being traded to the Red Sox from the Brewers. After accruing +1 OAA during his 2025 rookie season, he racked up +6 OAA in ’26 and led all AL third basemen with +13 DRS. Across MLB, only Alex Bregman and Matt Chapman (both at +15) had more. A position change turned out to be huge for Lee’s glove. He came up as a shortstop and played there primarily in 2024 and ‘25 (while seeing time at second and third base) but finished with a -3 FRV in both seasons. In 2026, Lee still struggled in limited action at shortstop (-6 OAA) but was excellent (+6 OAA) at third. Loftin stepped into a bigger role for the Royals with Maikel Garcia hampered by injury and performed admirably, both on offense and defense. He played enough third base to qualify for a Gold Glove at the hot corner while also seeing considerable playing time at second base and in right field. Loftin racked up +6 DRS in 2026, although Statcast was much more critical (-3 OAA, -1 FRV). Shortstop Andrés Giménez , Blue Jays Taylor Walls , Rays Bobby Witt Jr. , Royals Giménez won three straight AL Gold Gloves at second base from 2022-24 before former Ranger Marcus Semien beat him out in ’25. After moving to shortstop for Toronto in ’26, he now has a shot to win another Gold Glove at a new position. Giménez finished the season tied with the Cardinals’ Masyn Winn for second among shortstops with +19 OAA. Opinions on Walls’ defense are considerably split: DRS has him at +21 (tied for third among all players), while Statcast graded him as a poor defender (-2 OAA, -2 FRV). Known for his slick glove at shortstop, Walls is a Gold Glove finalist for the second straight season. Witt won the previous two AL Gold Gloves at short and is well positioned for a third. His +24 OAA was third in MLB, behind only Pete Crow-Armstrong and JJ Wetherholt, and his +17 FRV was tied with Winn for the most among shortstops. The Royals’ star could make it three straight seasons winning both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards at his position. Left field Cody Bellinger , Yankees Wyatt Langford , Rangers Chandler Simpson , Rays Bellinger is vying for his first Gold Glove since 2019, when he won the award as a right fielder for the Dodgers. The 31-year-old led all left fielders with +21 DRS, benefitting from plus range (+6 OAA) and an 93.3 mph average arm strength that ranks in the 94th percentile of MLB. When healthy, Langford, 24, continued to play sublime defense for the Rangers. He started 87 games in left field and totaled +5 OAA, tied for fourth most among all left fielders. That range stems from a strong jump; only Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ceddanne Rafaela had better initial reactions than Langford. Simpson is one of the fastest players in baseball , and he put all that speed to good while roaming the outfield for the AL-best Rays in 2026. Few players improved their range more than Simpson, who led all left fielders with +8 OAA in ‘26 after accruing -5 OAA in ‘25. How did he turn things around? Simpson worked closely with outfield instructor