Lorenzo Cain snubbed, Brewers shut out in Gold Glove awards

The Brewers haven’t had a Gold Glove winner since 2014, and they’ll have to wait at least one more year for their next one. After having four nominees for baseball’s most well-known defensive honor, none of them were able to take home the award.

Travis Shaw (predictably) lost the third base award to Nolan Arenado, while Corey Dickerson won the National League’s left fielder award over Christian Yelich and Yadier Molina won at catcher over Manny Pina.

But the most surprising result, at least for Brewers fans, was Lorenzo Cain losing out on the centerfield award to Atlanta’s Ender Inciarte, who won his third straight Gold Glove.

The comparison between Cain and Inciarte is close, at least according to the metrics. Cain was worth 20 Defensive Runs Saved and had a UZR of 8.7 with 86 Out Of Zone plays. Inciarte was worth 17 Defensive Runs Saved, had a UZR of 7.2 and 112 Out Of Zone plays.

Statcast gave Cain credit for 19 Outs Above Average and 6 “5-Star” catches (those with catch probabilities of 0-25%). Inciarte was at 21 Outs Above Average (tied for first in all of baseball with Harrison Bader) and had 3 “5-Star” catches.

Both are deserving of the award, but it’s hard not to feel bad for Cain after such a special season — likely the best of his career, both offensively and defensively — and seeing him once again overlooked for the honor.

Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs