Blue Jays lead MLB with five Gold Glove finalists
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Andrés Giménez, Nathan Lukes, Brandon Valenzuela and José Soriano are nominated for the defensive honour.
TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have five players named finalists for the 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, the most of any team in Major League Baseball this season.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Andrés Giménez, Nathan Lukes, Brandon Valenzuela and José Soriano were all named among the top three defenders at their positions when the finalists were announced Wednesday.
The Chicago Cubs also have five finalists.
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Guerrero Jr. is a finalist at first base, marking another opportunity to earn the top defensive award after previously winning a Gold Glove in 2022.
"Guerrero’s progression into one of the better defensive first basemen is a fascinating part of his journey," MLB.com wrote.
He finished third among American League first basemen in defensive runs saved (10) and outs above average (4) this season, according to Sports Illustrated, and posted a .992 fielding percentage.
Giménez, a finalist at shortstop, is eyeing his fourth Gold Glove Award after winning three straight at second base from 2022-24.
He finished the season tied for second among shortstops with +19 outs above average, MLB.com reported, and committed the fewest errors (7) among qualified A.L. shortstops.
Lukes earned recognition in right field, where he finished fifth among all A.L. outfielders with 13 defensive runs saved and committed just one error.
Valenzuela is a finalist at catcher after a rookie season where he ranked as a top five catcher in terms of Run Value (+11) and Defensive Rating (+13.6), according to MLB.com.
"Valenzuela excelled both at framing and throwing runners out," the site noted. He threw out 19 runners and had one of the league's fastest pop times.
Soriano, who was acquired by the Blue Jays at the trade deadline, rounds out the group as a finalist at pitcher.
He finished with a perfect fielding percentage and the highest range factor (1.98) among qualified A.L. pitchers, Sports Illustrated reported, recording 18 putouts and 21 assists.
The other finalists at pitcher are Tanner Bibee of the Cleveland Guardians and Jacob deGrom of the Texas Rangers.
The winners are determined by a vote of MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team, which counts for 75 percent of the total, combined with a sabermetric component called the SABR Defensive Index.
The 2026 Gold Glove Award winners are scheduled to be announced on Nov. 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET during a special one-hour Baseball Tonight broadcast on ESPN.
The Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals each have four finalists apiece.
At other positions, Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler, who won the award in 2025, is a finalist again after leading all catchers with a +17 Fielding Run Value.
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who won the previous two A.L. Gold Gloves, is also a finalist after posting +24 outs above average, the third-most in MLB this season.
Garbutt Disposal reported in October that the Blue Jays' minor-league system graduated 14 players to the majors during a productive 2026 season.
With files from Sportsnet, Yahoo Sports and Sports Illustrated