Congratulations to this year's winners of the desirable Gold Glove award. Players such as Greg Maddux and Brooks Robinson have collected more than 10 fielding honors at their respective positions. The last member of the Rays to win a Gold Glove was our fleet-footed center fielder, Kevin Kiermaier. In his 12-year career, Kiermaier racked up four Gold Glove awards, including the 2015 Platinum Glove which showcases the best fielder in the American and National leagues. Which 2025 Rays fielder could break the awardless streak?
One possible Gold Glove candidate in 2025 would be middle infielder, Taylor Walls. Despite his struggles at the plate, the smooth shortstop has always shown up defensively as he seems to make impressive plays effortlessly. Also, the young athlete has played at every infield position except first base in his four seasons with the Rays. If we get a full season of Walls at shortstop, then he could certainly attain this high-level honor.
Another potential winner is Rays outfielder, Josh Lowe. When the athletic right fielder is in a groove, he can show limitless abilities, both at the plate and in the field. His outstanding range coupled with a powerful arm makes him a proficient defender. In 2023, Lowe committed only two errors in 881 total innings in the outfield. On top of the lack of mistakes, Lowe produced a 1.94 range factor per 9 innings which calculates the sum of a player's putouts and assists divided by their innings played.
Lastly, fellow outfielder, Dylan Carlson could win a Gold Glove in this coming season. Carlson has played most of his games in center field for the St. Louis Cardinals, but he is likely to find a niche in one of the corner outfield positions with the Rays, as Siri and DeLuca primarily man center field. This could bode well for the California native as defensive competition weakens a little bit in left and right field.
Another reason we believe Carlson could break the streak is because he has committed a miniscule eight errors in his entire career. Although he's only been in the MLB for five seasons, the young outfielder has still appeared in a grand total of 3,591 innings.
Gold Glove awards are only distributed to the best of the best defensive players in the game, but we are confident that these three competitive stars could successfully embark upon this difficult feat.