The Chicago Cubs had the best defense in baseball this season, by any reasonable measure, and by a relatively wide margin. This was arguably one of the best defenses we’ve seen in decades, actually rivaling the Cubs of 2016. We’ve been spoiled on defense as Cubs fans.
With that in mind, the Cubs are on track to win the Gold Glove team award in 2026, and they’ll likely take home individual honors as well. It starts with the announcements of the finalists, made today:
It is therefore Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki who take the honors, more or less as expected. We all know PCA wins in center field, and Bregman should be a runaway winner at third base as well. Happ could fail this year, as Chourio had a great year. Ditto Swanson, who has been brilliant this year, but whose missed time could hurt him compared to the other finalists. For Suzuki, the honor is the finalist’s nod. He deserved this.
While it’s strange not to see Nico Hoerner there as a runner-up at second base, it’s more or less indisputable that Wetherholt, Lowe and Turang have him beat by a bit on the advanced metrics (even accounting for Hoerner’s time at shortstop). It’s not the be all and end all of the Gold Glove, but it’s an important factor, and it’s one of the few objective points of reference for those of us who don’t just vote with our eyes. There’s an argument that Hoerner was the 4th best defensive second baseman in all of baseball this year…it’s just that the three guys ahead of him were all in the NL. All in the NL Central, in fact!
Gn sports
