We know that the Cubs have superior defensive players at many positions, and could win several Gold Gloves when those awards are announced next month.
Today, Sports Info Solutions gave the entire team a Fielding
Bible award (Bluesky link):
As noted in the Bluesky post, this is the first-ever such award, given to an entire team. Nico Hoerner was given the honor at second base (Bluesky link):
Per Sports Info Solutions, here is how these awards were voted on:
Awards were determined by a panel of 16 voters, who ranked the top 5 players at each defensive position (including a spot for multi-position players) on a scale from 1 to 5 at the conclusion of the regular season. A first place vote gets 10 points, second place gets 4 points, third place gets 3 points, etc. Total up the points for each player, and the player with the most points wins the award. A perfect score is 80 points.
The panel also voted its top three choices for Defensive Player of the Year, with first place getting 5 points, second place 3 points, and third place 1 point.
Our voting panel consisted of SIS co-founder John Dewan, along with Daniel Álvarez-Montes (El Extra Base, editor/writer), Ben Clemens (FanGraphs, writer), Chris Dial (sabermetrician), Alyson Footer (MLB.com, editor), Tyler Kepner (The Athletic, writer), Bill Ladson (MLB.com, writer), Eduardo Pérez (ESPN, broadcaster), Hal Richman (Strat-O-Matic, founder), Eno Sarris (The Athletic, writer), Travis Sawchik (The Score, writer), Bobby Scales (Detroit Tigers, radio broadcaster), Joe Sheehan (Joe Sheehan’s Baseball Newsletter, writer), Mark Simon (SIS, writer), Danielle Wexelman (MLB Network Radio, broadcaster), and an aggregate vote from the SIS Baseball Operations staff.
(Note that the link says “2024” Awards in the text, but these are the correct winners for 2025 and the article has today’s date on it, so that has to be just a typo.)
You might wonder why Pete Crow-Armstrong didn’t win in center field; as you can see by the voting, he came in second. That’s a sign that he’ll be the NL Gold Glove winner, with Ceddanne Rafaela winning the AL Gold Glove.
Ian Happ finished third in left field and Matthew Boyd was third among pitchers. Those are the only other Cubs to finish in the top three for the Fielding Bible awards.
Congratulations to Nico and to the Cubs as a team for these honors. Gold Glove winners will be announced in a one-hour show on ESPN Sunday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
