Major League Baseball celebrated top-tier defensive talents on Sunday evening during the annual Gold Glove ceremony
Nov 1, 2026
at
9:36 pm ET
•
2 min read
Major League Baseball revealed the recipients of the 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove awards on Sunday evening, featuring Cubs phenom Pete Crow-Armstrong securing back-to-back National League Gold Gloves in center field. Crow-Armstrong, who captured the accolade in 2025 as well and stands as a frontrunner for the 2026 NL MVP, stood out as the premier defensive player in the sport this year, validated by both advanced analytics and traditional observation.
Below are the top defensive performers of 2026 measured by Statcast’s Fielding Runs Value, a comprehensive indicator accounting for defensive range, arm strength, along with pitch framing and ball blocking for catchers:
- Pete Crow-Armstrong: +26 FRV
- JJ Wetherholt: +23 FRV
- Bobby Witt Jr.: +17 FRV
- Masyn Winn: +17 FRV
- Multiple players tied at +16 FRV
The +26 FRV recorded by Crow-Armstrong ranks as the fifth-highest single-season total since the introduction of FRV in 2016, while standing as the second-highest mark by any position player outside of catchers, behind only Nick Ahmed’s +28 FRV campaign at shortstop in 2018.
First established in 1957, Gold Gloves recognize the premier fielders across every defensive position in both leagues. During the inaugural season, a single MLB-wide award was handed out for each role before splitting into distinct American League and National League categories in 1958. Additionally, the accolades originally recognized three generic outfielders per league, whereas modern voting evaluates left field, center field, and right field individually.
Selections are decided by combining votes from managers and coaches (comprising 75%) alongside an analytical metric (accounting for 25%). Team personnel are restricted from casting ballots for players on their own roster.
Although MLB revealed “finalists” for every award several weeks prior, the balloting had already concluded, making those named simply the top three vote recipients for every spot. Consequently, postseason outcomes held no influence over the final results. Listed below are the 2026 Gold Glove recipients.
