The Colorado Rockies glove work just might be golden

For as long as human beings have known of its existence, we have had an obsession with gold.

We set the gold standard, named the golden boy or the golden child because they’re “good as gold” or at least “worth their weight in gold.”

We try to follow the golden rule, maybe using the golden compass, and who doesn’t love goldfish and the Golden Girls?

The greatest athletes in the world are returning home from the Tokyo Olympics right now draped in gold, one of the highest honor in sports. Another one? The World Cup. You guessed it; made of gold.

There’s plenty of gold to go around in baseball.

The Golden Spikes award honor the best amateur baseball player in the United States “based on their athletic ability, sportsmanship, character, and overall contribution to the sport.”

Naturally, the World Series trophy is made of… wait a minute… sterling silver!? Well, at least there are 30 gold flags emanating from its base, representing each of the 30 clubs in MLB.

And, of course, there’s the Gold Glove.

Recognizing the best defenders at each position in the sport, the Rawlings Gold Glove holds a special place for those who care about one of the finer details of this beautiful game.

In baseball, defense is arguably the least important thing… of all the important things.

Run prevention is, of course, of paramount importance but the lion’s share of that responsibility goes to whoever is standing on the mound.

Most games are won or lost in the interactions between the batters and the pitchers.

Pennants and championships, though, are often won on the margins; On the catch that should have been made but wasn’t or the out recorded at home plate.

The Colorado Rockies, we know, will not be contending for any championships anytime in the near future. That goes back to that whole batter/pitcher thing.

But they have put together a collection of incredibly impressive defenders, some of whom may soon be bringing at least some gold back to Colorado.

Let’s first break it down by position and begin with the few places they have struggled building up to where they have truly excelled.

Starting Pitching: Rank According to Fangraphs DRS: 27th (-8)

The good news here is that the area where Colorado is the worst on defense is the one where it matters the least.

That’s not to say fielding your position well off the mound is entirely unimportant, they just tend to get fewer chances that everyone else. Cleveland leads MLB in this category with a +11, the only team with double-digit runs saved off the mound.

The worst culprits here, somewhat surprisingly, are Jon Gray and Kyle Freeland, each of whom have accounted for -2 DRS. Freeland had been a +1 guy each of the last few years and Gray neutral.

Chi Chi Gonzalez has been their best defending pitcher with +3.

Centerfield: Rank According to Fangraphs DRS: 18th (-3)

This is the perfect time to remember that the best advanced fielding metrics available still don’t have a way of accounting for the vastness of the Coors Field outfield.

So the Rockies ranking 17th here with a -2 might feel underwhelming until you put in in context. Here is how they’ve ranked in DRS in centerfield over the last three years:

2020: 29th (-8)

2019: 30th (-21) (Ian Desmond -18)

2018: 30th (-28) (Charlie Blackmon -26)

At no point in their history have the Rockies had an individual post double-digit DRS in centerfield.

In 2012, the combination of Eric Young Jr. (5) and Tyler Colvin (6) put up a combined +11 in just over 380 innings of work. But that was entirely wiped out by Dexter Fowler’s -12 over 1,026 innings.

That they got those totals in the same year is a minor miracle when you consider the Colorado Rockies all-time leaders in DRS out in centerfield.

Four players, Brandon Barnes, Carlos Gonzalez, Raimel Tapia, and Colvin, are tied for first with a grand total of just three runs saved each.

Michael A. Taylor of the Royals has posted 16 DRS in CF in 2021, as much as the Top 7 All-Time Rockies careers… combined.

In other words, this is a stat that is incredibly difficult for Colorado defenders to rank highly.

Enter Garrett Hampson and his suddenly pretty damn impressive +1 DRS in 449 innings this year. It’s especially noteworthy when you consider he came up as an infielder by trade.

Adding to the confusing complexity, Yonathan Daza, who passes all the eye tests, is dragging them down with -4 in 359 innings of work.

To make that even more puzzling, Daza’s DRS matches his skillset in right field where he has been worth a whopping +6 only 107 innings.

Sam Hilliard has been an OK defender according to DRS with 0 (again this would tie him for 10th best all time with Juan Pierre) so far this season and in his career.

Shortstop: Rank According to Fangraphs DRS: 12th (+2)

If you had polled most national or local baseball fans before the season, this is the one spot where you would likely have found consensus that Colorado could win some gold.

After all, Trevor Story has been phenomenal at times in his career, posting +14 and +12 in his first two seasons. His best year was 2019 where he put up +21 DRS and earned a Gold Glove nomination. He was even fantastic in the shortened 2020 campaign, saving six runs over only 491.1 innings.

But this season, much like his offense, has been a battle for Story and he has only saved two runs on defense.

Brendan Rodgers has been right at 0 DRS in 108.2 innings at short.

Right Field: Rank According to Fangraphs DRS: 13th (+1)

Again in full context, it is kind of amazing that the Rockies have been in the top half of MLB in defense in right field.

Charlie Blackmon has gotten the vast majority of playing time there (834 innings) and after some dreadful years in center has managed to settle into being an at least decent defender in right over the last couple of years.

His acceptable -4 and a -1 from just 19 innings of Chris Owings is counterbalanced Daza’s aforementioned +6 in right.

For comparison, Larry Walker is the only right fielder to put up double-digit DRS in right field for the Rockies, doing so in a single season in 2003, just the second year where such data is available.

Nobody since then has managed well in this stat. In fact, Daza is already in second place behind Walker with +7 DRS in right field, though as CarGo’s career reminds us, a few bad years could wipe that all away.

Outfield: Rank According to Fangraphs DRS: 10th (+5)

Now that we understand the history, the Rockies having a Top 10 outfield by this metric means quite a bit more.

Going back to 2015, in reverse order they have ranked 18th, 29th, 27th, 26th, 19th, and 28th in this category.

And there is good news for the future of Colorado turning the corner toward being far more capable of taking away runs in the grand expanse at 20th and Blake.

With the designated hitter likely coming to the National League in 2022 and beyond, the Rockies have the potential to move Blackmon’s negative production off the diamond while keeping his bat in the lineup.

If Daza or Hilliard prove to be good enough at the plate, they’ve already shown the ability to be assets in the field, or the Rockies can go the free agent rout and prioritize athletic defenders they way we have seen them do in the draft recently with Zac Veen and Benny Montgomery.

This is an area of competition where the Rockies have historically not been able to get much production but if these recent trends are any indication, they are charging in the right direction.

Of course, the biggest revelation here comes in the spot we have yet to discuss…

Left Field: Rank According to Fangraphs DRS: 3rd (+7)

For more on this, check out the in-depth evolution of the finer points of Raimel Tapia’s game.

Since we’ve been adding historical context here, it’s worth noting that other than Walker’s 10 DRS in RF back in 2003, on Carlos Gonzalez has managed a double-digit DRS season at any spot in the outfield, putting up +11 in 2013.

But a -13 the year before meant that over the course of his career he would end up with just +6 in LF over 3,806.2 innings.

What Tapia is accomplishing this year isn’t just good – being second to only Tyler O’Neil in the National League and single-handedly leading the most difficult left field in baseball to defend to the third best DRS in MLB behind only the Red Sox and Cardinals – it’s historic.

Of course time will tell if Tapia can avoid the pitfalls that have grabbed onto so many Rockies outfielders of the years.

For 2021, though, Tapia should be in strong consideration for a Gold Glove in left.

First Base: Rank According to Fangraphs DRS: 2nd (+6)

This might be the biggest surprise of them all.

Like pitching, nobody is getting a ton of value defensively at first according to the stat we are using for this exercise.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lead MLB with an uninspiring +9 and the Rockies are next in line with +6, tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It is interesting, though, that C.J. Cron, a slugger who gets far more ink for his bat than anything else, has put up a more-than-respectable +3 and that whoever else steps in with Connor Joe and Joshua Fuentes, they get even more dynamic.

No need for accolades in this spot but it sure has been a nice change of pace for the franchise to have a platoon of players at first base who all know their way around the position quite well.

Second Base: Rank According to Fangraphs DRS: 1st (+12)

Now we start getting into just how stupendous Ryan McMahon has been this year.

The Colorado Rockies rank tops in MLB in DRS at second base, just ahead of the San Deigo Padres, thanks in large part to McMahon’s +8 at the position.

Anyone who has actually watched him play this year knows this both matches the eye test for his ability but also seems strange because he hasn’t played that much second base.

You would be right on both accounts.

McMahon as an individual ranks fourth in MLB in DRS at 2B but he has also played in half as many innings (345) as any of the other players in the Top 5.

Only Jean Segura has him beat in the NL with +9 in 702 innings of work. Remembering once again that DRS is an accumulative stat that means McMahon has blown him away in terms of defensive value per inning played.

Garrett Hampson has also contributed at an extraordinary rate at second, posting a +5 in just 230.2 innings of work which has him placed 7th in MLB.

With enough work there, Hampson might one day truly be able to make the case for a nomination for gold.

The fact that he has shown to be a major asset defensively up the middle at two very different positions, however, may be far more important than whether or not he logs enough innings or amasses enough DRS to get an award for it.

Hampson, and to a lesser degree Daza, a minor revelations in how to attack a longtime weakness for this franchise.

Someone who almost certainly does deserve gold though…

Third Base: Rank According to Fangraphs DRS: 1st (+22)

The Rockies defensive production at the hot corner has been staggering.

At +22, they have accrued more DRS at third than any other team at any other position. In fact, there are just two clubs – the Rangers and the Marlins, whose entire outfields have more than 22 Defensive Runs Saved.

The Rays have gotten +19 at shortstop and Jacob Stallings, who should walk away with the Gold Glove for catchers, has the Pittsburgh Pirates at +17 behind the dish.

But McMahon (+12) and Fuentes (+10) have been truly remarkable.

They rank first and third at the position with Ke’Bryan Hayes of the Pirates sandwiched in between them with +11.

Interestingly enough, all three players have done this in limited time at third base, with only McMahon having recently eclipsed 500 innings of work.

This may be what undoes McMahon, though the recent emergence of Brendan Rodgers does suggest he should be able to play enough innings at third to qualify.

Matt Chapman of the Oakland A’s (983.2 innings) sits in fourth place with +7 and in the NL Austin Riley is next with +5 for Atlanta.

For those wondering, Nolan Arenado is in 20th place with +2 in 938 innings.

Which begs the question: Could or should the Rockies new third baseman be the one to unseat their old third baseman’s historic run of eight straight Gold Glove wins?

It’s just one metric but then again McMahon also leads all of MLB in Baseball Reference’s Defensive WAR as well.

As long as he keeps playing, that reality should not only be very much on the table, so should the Fielding Bible Award.

The numbers are overwhelming and they match up with an eye test that has seen No. 24 dazzle on the highlight reels all season… and all over the diamond. Don’t forget, he can even slide over and play first in a pinch if he has to.

Ultimately, whether or not McMahon wins any awards for his glove work this season, what we have witnessed cannot be unseen. He is simply one of the best defensive assets in baseball right now.

Moving forward, the Rockies can build knowing that not only can McMahon slide in and man third, second, or first, he can do so at a Gold Glove caliber level.

If he keeps doing what he’s doing, if this whole young core does, they too shall soon have gold upon their mantle.