On Tuesday, Rawlings announced the finalists for the 2024 Gold Glove Awards. Red Sox outfielders Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran fin ished in the top three in voting for their respective positions, making them first-time finalists.
Fenway Park’s outfield is one of the quirkiest in baseball, making it a challenging stadium for defenders. The 37-foot Green Monster boasts the highest outfield fence among all 30 big-league parks. Moving across the stadium, right field is bounded by a diminutive 3-foot wall. Balls take odd bounces off the Green Monster, the vast 420-foot center field triangle turns fly balls into triples, deep right field maxes out at 380 feet, and the Pesky Pole, only 302 feet away from home plate and invites would-be foul balls to become home runs.
With more area to cover than the typical right field, the Red Sox must play a competent, athletic right fielder. Enter Wilyer Abreu. Back in September, Alex Cora highlighted Abreu’s defensive skill set, saying “I think he’s going to be a guy that’s going to hit for power, he can steal bases and probably win a Gold Glove in right field.” Cora was spot-on in his analysis. Defending arguably the toughest outfield in baseball as a rookie, Abreu utilized his instincts and arm strength to rack up nine outfield assists, 18 defensive runs saved, and nine fielding runs. Although his footspeed of 27.5 feet-per-second only ranks in the 54th percentile, Statcast credited him with getting better jumps than the average outfielder, and his relentless hustle helped him gain even more ground.
Abreu leaves it all on the field and does whatever he can to help the Sox win. Statcast measured Abreu’s arm strength at 94.8 mph, which ranked eighth in all of baseball. He put that strength to use, too, as his arm saved three runs, seventh-most in the game. His hardest-thrown ball clocked in at a staggering 100.7 mph, and the accuracy of Abreu’s cannon allowed him to make difficult plays look routine.
Leave a Reply