Smoak named a finalist for a Gold Glove at first base
Long known for his big bat, veteran now getting recognition for his strong defensive play
Justin Smoak has long been at stalwart at first base for the Blue Jays, and now his fielding is getting notice outside of Toronto, too.
The 31-year-old was named a finalist for a Rawlings Gold Glove award, an annual honour handed out to one player at each position in both the American and National League for fielding excellence.
Smoak is up against American League first basemen Matt Olson, of the Oakland Athletics, and Mitch Moreland, of the Boston Red Sox.
This is Smoak’s first nomination for a Gold Glove award. Pitcher Marcus Stroman became the tenth Jays player to win a Gold Glove last year, the first Toronto player to be honoured since pitcher R.A. Dickey in 2013. Outfielder Vernon Wells was the last Jays position player to win such an award in 2006, while second baseman Orlando Hudson was the most recent infielder to get a nod. A win would make Smoak the first first baseman in club history to nab the honour.
The South Carolina native took over as Toronto’s starting first baseman in the 2017 season after free agent Edwin Encarnacion signed with the Cleveland Indians. Smoak mitigated the loss of Encarnacion with a breakout season that year: his 38 home runs, 90 RBIs and typically solid defending earned him his first-ever all-star nod in his eighth season in the league.
While Smoak’s offensive production dipped in 2018, he continued to be a rock at first base, particularly as the rebuilding Jays introduced inexperienced players into their infield as the season progressed. He committed a career-low one error in 147 games in 2018, with a 99.9 per cent fielding percentage. Smoak had 1,036 putouts, 39 assists and turned 98 double plays, though he was rated four runs below average as a defender.
Former Jays manager John Gibbons was quick to praise Smoak, particularly his defence, whenever he had the chance this season, though he admitted the first baseman’s value to the team generally flew under the radar.
“You take it for granted that he’ll pick up two or three balls a game,” Gibbons said in September. “It’s expected. If he wasn’t doing that, it would have been a really long year.”
The Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves led the charge with five Gold Glove finalists each, announced on Thursday. Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon and St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina continued their streak as the only two players to be name finalist each year since 2011, when Rawlings started highlighting the top three defenders at each position. The longest active winning streak for this award belongs to Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, who has claimed the last five trophies and will vie for his sixth next month. Canadian and Reds first baseman Joey Votto is also a finalist for the third time in his career. He previously won the award in 2011.
This is the first time in four years that Jays high-flying centre fielder Kevin Pillar was not named a finalist. He has never won the award.