Brooks Lee, JJ Wetherholt among 2026 Gold Glove finalists
TLDR: Rawlings named its 2026 Gold Glove finalists Wednesday: Brooks Lee made it at third base after moving off shortstop in mid-May, rookie JJ Wetherholt made it at second, and Pete Alonso missed the cut.
Rawlings put the list out one position at a time Wednesday morning. Pitchers came first, with Jacob deGrom an AL finalist beside Tanner Bibee and José Soriano. Then the Cardinals' beat lit up.
St. Louis had 3 finalists. Masyn Winn, last year's winner, is a finalist at shortstop for the 3rd year in a row. Michael McGreevy is up at NL pitcher. JJ Wetherholt is the one with a shot at history. He's a finalist at second base after leading all second basemen with +25 outs above average, and he's trying to do something only 1 Cardinals rookie has done before.
Wetherholt attempting to be the second #stlcards rookie ever to win a Gold Glove. And the #Cardinals lead the majors with 100 Gold Glove awards as a franchise.
He won't have an easy path. The other 2 NL second base finalists are Brice Turang and Brandon Lowe, so a rookie is going up against an established glove and a guy who wasn't known for his defense.
Around 11 a.m. CT came the best story on the list. In May, Brooks Lee was the worst defensive shortstop in baseball. Then the Twins moved him to third, and he finished as one of the 3 AL finalists there.
Brooks Lee named a Gold Glove finalist at third base, which is remarkable considering he moved there in mid-May after struggling at shortstop. Lee went from a weakness to a strength in the field, and from mid-May forward he was the Twins' best defender. t.co/0sxszXViMD
That turnaround deserves the credit Aaron Gleeman gives it. Lee was +6 OAA at third even though he played only 110 of his 156 games there. Winning is another matter, though. He's up against Boston's Caleb Durbin, who led the position in most of the defensive numbers, and Kansas City's Nick Loftin.
Alonso's snub got noticed right away. The AL finalists at first base are Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Christian Walker. The NL's are Ty France, Matt Olson and TJ Rumfield. Alonso's name isn't on either list, so 1 of the most recognizable first basemen in the sport gets left out of a defensive award again.
By early afternoon the other teams were adding theirs up. The Rangers got 4: deGrom, Wyatt Langford in left, Evan Carter in center and Ezequiel Duran at utility. The Yankees got 3 with Austin Wells behind the plate, Cody Bellinger in left and Jose Caballero at utility. Daylen Lile, whose defense took a big jump this year, joins Jackson Chourio and Ian Happ as an NL left field finalist. Here's the full board for both leagues.
Every 2026 Gold Glove finalist in each league (via @RawlingsSports)
The Pirates got 2. Lowe is one of them, and the other came late in the afternoon. Jared Triolo is up at NL utility against Mauricio Dubón and Ildemaro Vargas, and he's going for a 2nd Gold Glove.
Jared Triolo has been nominated for his second Gold Glove
Winners will be announced Sunday, Nov. 1 on a special edition of Baseball Tonight on ESPN. Durbin is probably the favorite at third, so the races to watch are Wetherholt's run at a rookie Gold Glove in St. Louis and Winn's bid to win shortstop again.
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