Washington Nationals’ Anthony Rendon an NL Gold Glove finalist at third base... again

Washington Nationals’ third baseman Anthony Rendon was named an NL Gold Glove finalist at third base for the third consecutive season this afternoon, though he’ll have to unseat the Colorado Rockies’ Nolan Arenado, who has won the award in each of his first five seasons in the majors and is a finalist once again along with the Milwaukee Brewers’ Travis Shaw.

Rawlings announced the finalists at each position on Twitter this afternoon...

Rendon finished the season with a .981 fld% (1st among qualified NL third basemen), with Arenado at .967, and Shaw at .958; he committed the fewest errors among qualified third basemen, with (6) to Arenado’s 14, and Shaw’s 10, and Rendon had the highest Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR), at 5.9 to Arenado’s 5.8, and Shaw’s 2.2, though Rendon’s -6 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) were the lowest among the three finalists with Arenado at +5 DRS and Shaw at +9.

Will Rendon finally win a Gold Glove at third base? A common thing you hear from the Nationals is that he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.

“He’s one of the best third basemen in the game and I don’t think he gets enough respect the way he plays the hot corner and also the way he swings the bat,” Bryce Harper said as he lamented the fact that Rendon wasn’t named an All-Star this summer.

“What a special talent and what a special player, and I’m fortunate enough to be on deck a lot of the times when he’s swinging it.”

“I don’t think that people realize how talented he really is,” Davey Martinez told reporters as his first season with Rendon wound down.

After his second straight nomination (and loss) last winter, Rendon was asked if he wanted to one day win a Gold Glove.

“You always want to win an accolade,” Rendon said, “especially if it’s pertaining to defense, because defense definitely gets overlooked these days, with everyone hitting homers and whatnot, and striking out, but I always tell y’all, the personal accolades will come when we win more.”