A few weeks ago, the Cleveland Guardians had three players named 2023 Rawlings Gold Glove finalists. Two of these finalists were second baseman Andrés Giménez and left fielder Steven Kwan.
Now, the young duo has won two consecutive AL Gold Glove Awards.
This season’s Gold Glove winners were announced tonight on an ESPN “Baseball Tonight” special.
With their respective wins, Giménez and Kwan have become the first Cleveland duo to win consecutive Gold Glove Awards since Omar Vizquel and Roberto Alomar, who won three consecutive as a Cleveland tandem from 1999 through 2001.
Giménez and Kwan are now also the first Cleveland infield/outfield duo to win consecutive Gold Gloves since Vizquel and Kenny Lofton won three consecutive from 1994 through 1996.
Kwan joined a very exclusive company with his second consecutive Gold Glove win.
The 26-year-old became just the third player in MLB history to win a Gold Glove in each of his first two seasons (minimum one game played per season). The other two players to accomplish this feat were Ichiro Suzuki (2001 and 2002) and Nolan Arenado (2013 and 2014).
According to FanGraphs, the 25-year-old Giménez led all MLB players in assists (401), and all AL players in total defensive runs saved (23) this season.
Kwan led MLB left fielders in total defensive runs saved (15), putouts (344), and innings played (1,352.0), while leading AL left fielders in assists (10) and games played (153), per FanGraphs.
Guardians third baseman José Ramírez was also named an AL Gold Glove Award finalist for the third consecutive year, and fifth time in his career.
He, however, is still searching for his first Gold Glove, as Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman took home this year’s honor.
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