Russell Martin, Starling Marte named Gold Glove finalists

Russell Martin and Starling Marte are each among the three finalists for NL Gold Glove awards, respectively.

The other finalists at catcher are Jonathan Lucroy and Yadier Molina, so Martin probably faces an uphill battle. Lucroy, in particular, is very deserving, and Molina is very good and has a great reputation, having won six Gold Gloves in a row.

Marte, on the other hand, faces Christian Yelich and Justin Upton, which mostly just shows that it's weird to have a Gold Glove award purely for left field. I've never known Upton, in particular, to be anything more than an average defender. Yelich has a good, but not great, defensive reputation, mostly because of a weak arm. If Marte had posted the strong defensive numbers he did in 2013, my guess is that he would certainly win the award. He didn't, although I'm not sure that's due to any defensive decline on Marte's part.

The two Pirates who were selected this year are excellent defensive players, regardless of what happens, and I'm glad to see them recognized. The winners will be announced November 4.