KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named winners of 2024 American League Rawlings Gold Glove Awards for the first time in their careers, Rawlings Sporting Goods Inc. announced tonight. The Rawlings Gold Glove Awards honor the best individual fielding performances at each position in the American League and National League. Winners were chosen by a combination of votes from MLB managers and coaches, and the SABR Defensive Index.
They are the 16th and 17th Royals, respectively, to win the award. The Royals now have 22 Rawlings Gold Gloves over the last 14 seasons since 2011, the most in the Majors during that time.
Lugo is the second Royals pitcher to win the award, joining Royals Hall of Famer Bret Saberhagen (1989). Witt Jr. is the second shortstop in franchise history to earn the honor, joining Alcides Escobar (2015). Witt Jr., who played in his age-24 season, became the 3rd-youngest Royal to win the Award, only older than Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez, who both won their first Gold Glove Awards at age 23 in 2013. Lugo and Witt Jr. are the first Royals to win a Gold Glove Award since outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Michael A. Taylor in 2021.
Lugo, who turns 35 in two weeks, was one of 10 American League pitchers to finish with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage and make at least 30 starts, and he started more games (33) and covered more innings (206.2) than everyone in that group. Lugo had 43 defensive chances this season, 2nd to Boston’s Tanner Houck (51) for the AL lead. He successfully recorded 14 putouts and 29 assists, while contributing to 3 double plays, 1 shy of Michael Lorenzen and Casey Mize for the AL lead. Lugo registered 5 Defensive Runs Saved, 1 shy of Tanner Bibee’s American League-leading 6 for pitchers.
Witt Jr., 24, posted a .974 fielding percentage across 1393.2 innings, tied for the 2nd-highest mark by a qualified American League shortstop, behind Texas’ Corey Seager (.983, 959.1 innings). He was the only shortstop in the AL to start at least 160 games, and his 1393.2 innings marked the 4th-most innings played at shortstop in franchise history, behind only a trio of seasons from Alcides Escobar in 2014 and 2016-17, headlined by his 1433.2 innings in 162 starts in 2014. Witt Jr. recorded a career-high Fielding Run Value (12), which paced American League shortstops and only trailed Dansby Swanson (14) of the Cubs for the Major League lead. He also logged 16 Outs Above Average, per Baseball Savant, the highest mark among AL shortstops, 3 ahead of New York’s Anthony Volpe. According to FanGraphs’ Defensive Runs Above Average (DEF), a statistic that measures a player’s defensive value relative to league average, Witt Jr.’s score of 17.6 was the 2nd best at his position behind Swanson’s 18.9, and it finished more than a full point higher than the next AL shortstop (Volpe, 16.2).
