Offense is what baseball fans first think about the Texas Rangers’ path to the franchise’s first World Series title. After all, they had hitters like Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, and Marcus Semien, who crushed balls out of the ballpark. Garcia did most of his damage in the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros.
Meanwhile, Seager and Semien generated points during the five-game World Series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. But lost in the Rangers’ booming hits is their ability to limit opponent’s runs via solid fielding. Therefore, it’s no surprise that three of their players are part of the American League players who won Gold Gloves this year.
Garcia emerged as a hitter who thrives under pressure after driving in 15 runs in the ALCS. He did it with style, knocking in a home run in four straight games against their intra-state rival. However, his rocket arm that can put runners out has rarely been discussed amidst his hitting prowess.
MLB.com’s Manny Randhawa wrote that Garcia’s arm has an average strength of 93 miles per hour. Throwing the ball with that velocity gave him 11 assists on defense. Those numbers earned him his first Gold Glove, making him the fourth Rangers outfielder to win the individual honor.
Meanwhile, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe won his first Gold Glove even if his on-base and slugging percentage dropped from .851 in 2022 to .775 in 2023. Statcast also revealed that his outs above average improved from an abysmal minus-11 to a respectable minus-four.
Nathaniel Lowe is potentially the most underrated player in MLB.
— Texas Rangers Insider (@RangersInsiders) November 6, 2023
- Silver Slugger Award Winner
- Gold Glove Award Winner
Only 140 other players in history have won both awards in their career. pic.twitter.com/VwmTd8k3CR
Finally, catcher Jonah Heim also took home his first Gold Glove to cap off a season wherein he won the World Series and earned an All-Star selection. He became the third catcher in Rangers history to receive the award, with the first two being Jim Sundberg and Ivan Rodriguez.
FanGraphs reveals that Heim led all American League catchers in fielding runs above average at 22.8. He was also tied for third in double plays completed with eight and fourth in defensive games played with 124.
Here is the complete list of 2023 Gold Glove winners from both leagues.
2023 Gold Glove Winners – American League
- First base: Nathaniel Lowe, Texas Rangers
- Second base: Andres Gimenez, Cleveland Guardians
- Third base: Matt Chapman, Toronto Blue Jays
- Shortstop: Anthony Volpe, New York Yankees
- Catcher: Jonah Heim, Texas Rangers
- Pitcher: Jose Berrios, Toronto Blue Jays
- Left field: Steve Kwan, Cleveland Guardians
- Center field: Kevin Kiermaier, Toronto Blue Jays
- Right field: Adolis Garcia, Texas Rangers
- Utility: Mauricio Dubon, Houston Astros
2023 Gold Glove Winners – National League
- First base: Christian Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks
- Second base: Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs
- Third base: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pittsburgh Pirates
- Shortstop: Dansby Swanson, Chicago Cubs
- Catcher: Gabriel Moreno, Arizona Diamondbacks
- Pitcher: Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies
- Left field: Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs
- Center field: Brenton Doyle, Colorado Rockies
- Right field: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
- Utility: Ha-Seong Kim, San Diego Padres
-Lance Fernandez