Lorenzo Cain wins Fielding Bible Award as best center fielder

While the Gold Glove Awards are considered the standard for baseball’s best defensive players by most mainstream fans of the game, those who are more analytically-inclined may be apt to pay greater attention to the annual Fielding Bible Awards. Presented each year by Sports Info Solutions (creators of the Defensive Runs Saved statistic), the awards are given to baseball’s top fielders as voted on by a panel of 12 experts who rank the top-10 defensive players at every position.

For the second year in a row, Lorenzo Cain of our Milwaukee Brewers is the winner of the Fielding Bible Award for center fielders:

Cain finished second among center fielders with +20 Defensive Runs Saved this season as well as a 7.0 Ultimate Zone Rating, and he was third in baseball with 14 Outs Above Average. He recorded 306 putouts in 143 games (133 starts) this season while getting charged with only a pair of errors. He also tallied five outfield assists.

Cain was also nominated for the Gold Glove in center field, and that award has not been announced yet.

Here is the full list of 2019 Fielding Bible Award winners:

Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs and Baseball Savant