The St. Louis Cardinals may not have had pearls, but there was a lot of gold in the 2021 season. It’s a Gold Glove Award.
Last week’s Gold Glove Awards prove that St. Louis Cardinals baseball fans already knew. The 2021 Cardinals was one Hecuba defense team.
Five Cardinals players won the Gold Glove Awards after spending a week hiding in Bat Track or looking for reasons for their new manager, Olimer Mol, to be fired. This is the first time the team has won five Gold Glove Awards.
Paul Goldschmidt won the honor on first base. The second Tommy Edman. Nolan Arenado in 3rd place. Tyler O’Neal on the left fielder. Harrison Bader in the center. Yadier Molina was an honorary finalist, but the award was given to Jacob Starings in Pittsburgh.
Surprisingly, it would have been unthinkable for this Cardinals team to win a Gold Glove Award in all nine positions. I’m not saying that the Cardinal was screwed in. I’m not saying it should have happened. I’m just saying that the team is defensively good.
In today’s game, Molina continues to be one of the defensive criteria for measuring catchers. But time and more than 18,000 innings behind the plate made their sacrifice.
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Molina doesn’t block the pitch in the soil like she used to … especially when he plays 15-20 games in a row. On the other hand, given the “one-knee approach” used by many players today, he is still an elite in that category.
Conversely, Molina shuts down games that are still running. There were fewer stolen attempts against the Cardinals than any other baseball team this year. And when the opponent tried to steal, Molina abandoned 41 percent of the runners. By comparison, World Champion Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud threw 16 percent to the base stealer.
Right fielder Dylan Carlson is another elite fielder.
His gloves are comparable to Birder and O’Neill. Although he lacks the explosive speed of his outfield opponent, Carlson jumps well into the ball and takes a good route. When he touches the ball, he catches it.
And he definitely has the best of this amazing outfield trio. I’m not talking about Roberto Clemente’s caliber arm, but Carlson’s footwork is great and his accuracy is amazing. Since Rick Ankiel played, he has the best outfielder in Cardinals uniforms.
Cardinals wasn’t going to win the Gold Glove Award as a shortstop, as Paul DeJong and Edmundo Sosa took the time there. However, both are excellent defenders.
For casual fans, De Jong doesn’t seem to be defensively special. But when I look at it every day, I find that he rarely makes mistakes. He doesn’t have the range Sosa has, but Dejon’s hand is great.
He is not blessed with big arms, but he quickly removes the ball and is accurate.
Sosa has a real chance to win a Gold Glove someday if he becomes a regular. He has excellent range and excellent arms. Most of his errors occurred in this year’s false throw. As he gains experience and learns when to eat balls, it will clean himself.
Finally, Adam Wainwright has won two Gold Glove Awards on the mound.
The Cardinals were sometimes frustrated to see this year, but before the all-star break the pitching was horrifying, the attack was volatile and the defense was constant. The quality of defense has made the team more tolerant of other shortcomings.
Finally, the Cardinals are aiming to sign more pitching for next year, and their defense needs to make St. Louis an attractive destination.
LES WINKELER is a former sports editor at The Southern Illinoisan.Contact him at les@winkelerswingsandwildlife.com, Twitter @ Les Winkeler.
Sports Column | Lewin Keller: Cardinals Becomes First Team in History with Five Gold Glover | Sports
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