Betts in elite crowd with 4th straight Gold Glove
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Fenway Park has some of the more difficult right-field dimensions in all of baseball, but that hasn't stopped Red Sox superstar Mookie Betts from becoming the American League's defensive standard at the position in recent years. The 27-year-old was recognized with his fourth straight American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award on Sunday, topping the Angels' Kole Calhoun and the Astros' Josh Reddick for the honor.
• Past Gold Glove Award winners: American League | National League
Betts is one of three Major Leaguers to win a Gold Glove Award in each of the past four years, joining Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado and Astros pitcher Zack Greinke, who won again in the National League after spending much of 2019 with the D-backs.
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Betts, the 2018 AL MVP, finished seventh among outfielders and tied for 10th overall among all MLB players with 15 Defensive Runs Saved in '19. He has recorded a big league-leading 98 DRS since the start of 2016, topping the next closest player (Andrelton Simmons) by 13.
Betts also tied for 10th among AL outfielders in Statcast's Outs Above Average metric, posting +7 OAA, and he continued to combine his great range with a strong throwing arm, notching 10 outfield assists.
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All three of Boston's starting outfielders were Gold Glove Award finalists for the second straight year, but Jackie Bradley Jr. -- last season's AL winner in center field -- finished as a runner-up to the Rays' Kevin Kiermaier, who is now a three-time winner. Meanwhile, left fielder Andrew Benintendi lost out to the Royals' Alex Gordon, who won for the seventh time. Catcher Christian Vázquez was a finalist as well, but the award went to the Indians' Roberto Pérez.
Betts became just the fifth Red Sox player to win at least four Gold Glove Awards, along with second baseman Dustin Pedroia (four), and outfielders Dwight Evans (eight), Carl Yastrzemski (seven), and Fred Lynn (four).
As one of the AL’s nine Gold Glove winners, Betts is now eligible for the Platinum Glove Award, which is given to the best defensive player from each league. Voting for the award, which was established in 2011, is open at rawlings.com and will continue until 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday. The two league winners will be announced on Friday.