Three Red Sox Players Nominated For Gold Glove Awards

Awards season is almost here, and the Boston Red Sox are well represented in early nominations. Three Red Sox defenders were nominated for the American League Gold Glove award at their respective positions.

Ceddanne Rafaela was nominated at center field, Wilyer Abreu was nominated in right field and Carlos Narvaez was nominated for the catcher position.

For Rafaela, the nomination should be no surprise. The outfielder routinely made spectacular catches in center field. He also made routine catches that would have required extraordinary effort from other outfielders. His 22 fielding runs, calculated by Baseball Savant, were the best in baseball aside from San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. The only outfielder with more Outs Above Average than Rafaela was Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who played 200 more innings in center than the Red Sox outfielder. Rafaela is pitted against Kyle Isbel and Julio Rodriguez, and should be the favorite to win the award.

For Abreu, it’s his second nomination after he won the award in 2024. He’s up against Adolis Garcia and Cam Smith. Abreu leads the group with eight OAA, while Garcia and Smith each accumulated one apiece. Abreu also had seven outfield assists, while Garcia and Smith each had six.

Of the group, Narvaez’s nomination comes as the biggest surprise. He was excellent defensively, but his name wasn’t frequently mentioned in awards conversations. Alejandro Kirk and Dillon Dingler are the other two nominees at catcher. Kirk should be the favorite — his 22 fielding runs are well above both Narvaez and Dingler’s totals.

Rafaela should be the favorite to win the award, while Abreu should have a good chance to repeat as well if the voters are willing to overlook his lack of games played. Narvaez, on the other hand, will have a difficult time taking home the hardware after a stellar season behind the dish from Kirk.