2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Finalists Announced; Cubs Unsurprisingly Land Five Nominees

[Maddie Landis]

Earlier today, Rawlings announced the 2026 Gold Glove finalists. The Chicago Cubs were well represented with five players: 

• CF: Pete Crow Armstrong (previously won in '25)
• 3B: Alex Bregman (previously won in '24)
• SS: Dansby Swanson (previously won '22-23)
• LF: Ian Happ (previously won '22-25 )
• RF: Seiya Suzuki (first nomination)

Should we be surprised? Not really. This past season, no team played better defense than the Cubs. Among the plethora of defensive stats, they led the league in FRV (76), OAA (74), and DRS (115). Notably, second baseman Nico Hoerner (9 OAA & FRV each) was excluded, but he had to fill in at shortstop for Dansby Swanson’s oblique injury. 

The most unexpected nominee was Seiya Suzuki. In his walk season, he upped his defensive game. Among NL right fielders, he ranked first in FRV (8) and DRS (14) and second in OAA (3). Keep in mind, Suzuki played in the same league as Diamondbacks speedster Corbin Carroll and is six years older than him. This is Suzuki's first Gold Glove nomination in the majors. As a member of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, he had previously won five NPB Gold Gloves Awards.

The winners will be announced on Sunday, November 1 at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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[Stratos]

Seiya?  Wow, good for him.

[mk49]

I think Seiya will win his first GG.  We know Pete will.  And, possibly, Bregman, too.

[Jason Ross]

20 minutes ago, mk49 said:

I think Seiya will win his first GG.  We know Pete will.  And, possibly, Bregman, too.

Carroll (12 DRS and 10 OAA) is gonna take RF. Suzuki (14 DRS and 5 OAA) is going to come second. 

It'll be close, but Corban has the better reputation out there and it's close statistically but in his favor, too. Voters tend to rely on the rep a bunch and when the stats are also mostly on your side, you end up winning. 

Bregman and Pete will take GG's. Happ will finish 2nd to Chourio. Wynn takes SS, Swanson finishes third.

[Tryptamine]

Did Nico really fall off that hard?

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

I hope Pete doesn't get robbed of platinum again

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, Tryptamine said:

Did Nico really fall off that hard?

Not super hard. He was still good. He just wasn't elite this year and the NL was specifically good. He was 4th in the NL (6th overall) in DRS and 5th in the NL (7th overall) in OAA. 

DRS +4

OAA +9

 

[Bill Fogg]

Nico spent just over a month playing shortstop while Swanson was on the DL. While Nico is an exceptional 2Bman, he is closer to average at SS. I would guess that most Cub fans would state that he played defense at a Gold Glove level for the first 3/4's of the season but the move to short probably cost him the chance to win a Gold Glove.     

[Jason Ross]

3 hours ago, Bill Fogg said:

Nico spent just over a month playing shortstop while Swanson was on the DL. While Nico is an exceptional 2Bman, he is closer to average at SS. I would guess that most Cub fans would state that he played defense at a Gold Glove level for the first 3/4's of the season but the move to short probably cost him the chance to win a Gold Glove.     

He played well, but the 4 weeks of data doesn't close the gap in the data above. He wouldn't have jumped four NL 2b in OAA.

He doesn't deserve the GG this year. That's okay. Sometimes we are just good instead of great. 

[Rcal10]

3 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

He played well, but the 4 weeks of data doesn't close the gap in the data above. He wouldn't have jumped four NL 2b in OAA.

He doesn't deserve the GG this year. That's okay. Sometimes we are just good instead of great. 

Agreed. Even if he played 2nd all year maybe he makes top 3. But he wasn’t winning the GG this year. Still very good defensively. Just, some guys did it better this year. PCA better win the platinum glove. 

[Nolo]

Congrats to all of them on being nominees. I bet Bregman and PCA are locks. Suzuki 50/50. Either way, Suzuki’s just got even more expensive 😆