This is the second of two preview articles covering this year’s Fielding Bible Awards. The first focused on catchers and infielders. This one covers outfielders, pitchers, and multi-position players, as well as Defensive Team of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
This is the 21st annual edition of The Fielding Bible Awards, which are voted on by a panel of experts who can vote based on whatever criteria they choose, including observation and subjective judgement, as well as statistical analysis. Each position has one overall winner, different from the Gold Gloves which has one in each league.
The Fielding Bible Awards will be announced on Thursday October 22 from 2 to 3 pm ET on Bluesky.
(Defensive Runs Saved totals in parentheses)
Left Field
Fielding Bible Award Favorite: Cody Bellinger (21)
NL Gold Glove Favorites: Jackson Chourio (13), Ian Happ (10)
AL Gold Glove Favorite: Bellinger
Other Fielding Bible Contenders: Bryan Reynolds (9), Wyatt Langford (9), Chandler Simpson (8)
First of all, if you’re looking for three-time Fielding Bible Award winner Steven Kwan, he played 10 more innings in center field than left field this season, so he qualifies only in center field (despite having more Runs Saved in left field).
That clears the path for Cody Bellinger, who had a great season for the Yankees, to win for the second time as a corner outfielder. He won in 2019 both for right field and for multi-position play.
The next-closest left fielder in Runs Saved was Jackson Chourio, and I’d expect a close vote between him and four-time Gold Glove winner Ian Happ for NL honors.
Center Field
Fielding Bible Award Favorites: Ceddanne Rafaela (21), Andy Pages (20), Pete Crow-Armstrong (16)
NL Gold Glove Favorites: Pages, Crow-Armstrong
AL Gold Glove Favorite: Rafaela
Other Fielding Bible Contenders: Colton Cowser (10), Michael Harris II (9)
Cubs fans will tell you that Pete Crow-Armstrong is the best defensive center fielder in baseball, but not everyone nor every stat agrees with this.
Crow-Armstrong does have the best Range Runs Saved. But Andy Pages and Ceddanne Rafaela have a distinct advantage in Outfield Arm Runs Saved, and Crow-Armstrong was also dinged by his high number of Defensive Misplays and Errors in center field. As such, Rafaela and Pages finished ahead of him in overall Runs Saved.
Rafaela won the Award last year and has a reasonable case to win it again. The only center fielder to win in back-to-back years is Lorenzo Cain (2018 and 2019). If Pages wins, it will be because of his arm. He had 14 assists to 8 for Rafaela and 5 for Crow-Armstrong in 2026.
Right Field
Fielding Bible Award Favorite: Wilyer Abreu (28)
NL Gold Glove Favorite: Seiya Suzuki (14)
AL Gold Glove Favorite: Abreu
Other Fielding Bible Contenders: Corbin Carroll (12), Victor Mesa Jr. (12), Nathan Lukes (11)
Wilyer Abreu had the most Runs Saved of any player in MLB this season and his Runs Saved margin in right field was the biggest for any leader at any position in 2026. He had both great range and arm numbers. His 9 Outfield Arm Runs Saved matched Pages for the most in MLB.
The NL Gold Glove is a good battle between Seiya Suzuki, who entered the season with -4 Runs Saved for his career in right field but totaled 14 in 2026, and Corbin Carroll, who has had a more steady improvement at that position the last few years.
Let’s offer shout-outs as well to Zach McKinstry and Luis Lara, both of whom posted double-digit Runs Saved totals in fewer than 500 innings.
Pitcher
Fielding Bible Award Favorite: Brent Suter (7), Michael McGreevy (5), Tanner Bibee (5), Shota Imanaga (5)
NL Gold Glove Favorite: McGreevy, Imanaga
AL Gold Glove Favorite: Bibee
Other Fielding Bible Contenders: Nolan McLean (4), Troy Melton (4), Gavin Williams (4), Foster Griffin (4), Colin Rea (4), Adrian Houser (4)
Yes, a relief pitcher (Brent Suter) led all pitchers in Runs Saved. Suter finished one assist shy of the MLB lead for pitchers, some of which was a product of his tying for the MLB lead in pitcher pickoffs (6). In his defense, he co-led the majors in ART Runs Saved too (ART = air balls, range, and throwing) with fellow reliever Jonathan Loaisiga. So there was value in the defensive plays he made.
I suspect voters are going to pick someone with more innings pitched and, as noted above, there are a bunch of viable candidates. Tanner Bibee is one of them. He won a Fielding Bible Award in a similarly split field two years ago. Shota Imanaga and Michael McGreevy have good cases too. Imanaga finished with 5 pickoffs, 1 shy of the MLB lead. McGreevy was among the MLB pitcher leaders in Range Factor. This is a true toss-up though and maybe it is possible for a relief pitcher to take the Award.
Multi-Position
Fielding Bible Award Favorites: Steven Kwan (17), Nasim Nuñez (16), Zach McKinstry (15)
NL Utility Gold Glove Favorite: Mauricio Dubon (6)
AL Utility Gold Glove Favorite: McKinstry
Other Fielding Bible Contenders: José Caballero (12), Kevin McGonigle (10), Dubon, Jared Triolo (5), Brett Baty (5)
There are a lot of ways to define what a multi-position player is. This year there are three strong candidates and each fits a different definition.
Steven Kwan split time evenly between center field and left field and was very good in both spots (for anyone who says those positions aren’t that different, MLB outfielders will tell you otherwise). Nasim Nuñez was great at second base before the Nationals realized they should have their best infield defender at shortstop and moved him there.
Then there’s Zach McKinstry, who best fits the utility player definition that the Gold Glove Awards prefers. He played seven positions (including pitcher) and was great at one of them (right field) and average or better at the others. The NL’s versions of McKinstry are past Gold Glove winner Mauricio Dubon and also Brett Baty, each of whom played at least 4 games at five different positions.
Team of the Year
Fielding Bible Award Favorite: Cubs (115)
NL Team Gold Glove Favorite: Cubs
AL Team Gold Glove Favorites: Rays (87), Red Sox (67)
Other Fielding Bible contenders: Braves (62), Brewers (62)
As I recently wrote, there’s no doubt that the Cubs are going to almost certainly going to win the Fielding Bible Team of the Year Award. They have the most Runs Saved in MLB this season by a wide margin and are probably going to have multiple Gold Glove Award winners.
The Rawlings AL Team of the Year could be interesting. Defensive Runs Saved favors the Rays, with the team boosted by its defensive positioning. But if the voters go for the most skilled team rather than the one with the best combination of skill and positioning then the strength of the Red Sox outfield could lead them to the top honor.
Player of the Year
Player of the Year Favorites: Wilyer Abreu, Brice Turang, Ceddanne Rafaela
NL Platinum Glove Favorites: Pete Crow-Armstrong
AL Platinum Glove Favorites: Abreu, Rafaela, Bellinger
There is no obligation to go by the stats for Defensive Player of the Year (or any of Fielding Bible Awards) and we’ll be curious to see if voters favor the numbers and lean to Rafaela, Abreu, or Turang, or if they go a different route. People who like Crow-Armstrong’s defense tend to be very passionate about it, so we expect him to be a strong contender too.
