Sep 5, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) celebrates with teammates against the Miami Marlins after the second inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
MLB observers almost unanimously agree that Ranger Suarez is a Gold Glove-caliber fielder at the pitcher position. Check out this play from just last week, for example:
Gold. Glove. pic.twitter.com/0USJkxP7ID
— John Foley (@2008Philz) September 6, 2024
Here's Ranger casually fielding a ground ball in the 2022 World Series. Looks like he's playing wiffle ball at a family cookout.
Suárez casually fields World Series ground ball pic.twitter.com/5hbOXZBgI7
— John Foley (@2008Philz) March 22, 2024
And for good measure, here he is expertly fielding 100 more grounders:
No Phillies game today, so here’s Ranger Suárez fielding 100 ground balls pic.twitter.com/9la9XT80ZT
— John Foley (@2008Philz) April 18, 2024
But Suarez will not win a Rawlings Gold Glove this year. In fact, he has never even been considered for the honor.
How can that be?
The problem lies with Rawlings' stringent eligibility criteria. To be considered for the award, an MLB pitcher must throw at least 138 innings by his team's 138th game. At the time of the Phillies' 138th game in 2024, Suarez had only thrown 128.1 innings. In 2023, he threw just 101.1 innings before the Phils' 138th game. In 2022, Suarez reached 138 innings after 144 Phillies games, but fell short over 138 games.
Rawlings does need to implement some kind of innings requirement, of course. But why cut it off at 138 games? Ranger missed some time this season, but will likely reach a more-than-respectable number of innings by the end of the season. And winners aren't announced until November, which would give voters (MLB managers and coaches) plenty of time to make a decision after 162 games.
I asked Tyler G., who works at my local Dick's Sporting Goods, about the 138-game cutoff.
"I really need you to either buy something or go, sir," responded Tyler.
Fine.
But let's look at the eligibility criteria for other positions. From the Rawlings Gold Glove website:
- "A catcher must have played in at least half of his team’s games by his team’s 138th game (a minimum of 69 games)." That seems reasonable. Most starting catchers will qualify.
- "All infielders and outfielders must have played in the field for at least 698 total innings through his team’s 138th game: this equates to playing in the field for approximately 7.5 innings per game in approximately 67% of his team’s games by his team’s 138th game." This also seems entirely reasonable. Infielders/outfielders with starting jobs shouldn't have trouble meeting that mark, even with an injury or two.
But 138 innings for a pitcher?
As of September 3, the date of the Phillies' 138th game, only about 25 National League pitchers met Rawlings' 138-inning requirement. Fewer than two pitchers per team.
"What f**king sense does that make, Tyler?! Do you see what I'm saying? Good, yes you should go get your manager. Thank you."
Zack Wheeler won the NL Gold Glove in 2023, which provides some consolation to Phillies fans/Ranger fans. But anyone who watches the Phils on a regular basis knows that Suarez was robbed.
