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Gold Glove nominee
While the Pirates defense looked shabby at times, they actually made under 100 errors as a team for just the third time in franchise history.
When discussing the Bucs best defensive players, rarely does the name David Freese get mentioned, but Freese is the lone Pirates player nominated for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
On the surface, Freese didn’t have a great defensive season replacing Jung Ho Kang as the Pirates everyday third baseman.
He committed 12 errors and had a fielding percentage of just .962. Neither of those marks cracked the Top 10 in the league.
But dive a little closer into the metrics and Freese had a very strong season with the glove, posting a 4.7 defensive WAR, which was good for third in the National League.
He also ranked fourth in the league with seven runs saved and had a UZR/150 of 5.5.
Also nominated for the award are Nolan Arenado and Anthony Rendon, although Arenado should be a lock to win the award.
Although Freese had a disappointing year with the bat, it’s nice to see him get some recognition for his work with the glove.
World Series shifts to Houston
After a day off, the World Series is back tonight as we shift to Minute Maid Park for Game 3.
That could be good news for the Astros as they have been dominant at home this postseason.
Houston is only 2-5 on the road in the playoffs, but 6-0 at Minute Maid Park, where they outscored the Red Sox and Yankees 31-7.
Yu Darvish gets the nod for the Dodgers and he will be opposed by Houston’s Lance McCullers. Darvish went a combined 10-12 with a 3.86 on the season. He faced the Astros twice. On June 12 he fired seven innings of one-hit ball, allowing one earned run in a win and one June 2 he allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings of work.
His dominant outing against Houston took place at Minute Maid Park.
Darvish has made two postseason starts this year, allowing only two earned runs and eight hits in 11.1 innings of work.
McCullers went 7-4 with a 4.25 ERA in the regular season.
He did not face the Dodgers this season and has made three postseason appearances (one start) this year, allowing just three runs and six hits in 13 innings of work.
First pitch is scheduled for 8:20 pm EST.
Baseball Talk on the Web
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Joe Girardi out as Yankees manager
Gold Glove finalists announced
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