Despite having the fourth-highest career fielding percentage as a left fielder in MLB history (.9919), New York Yankees homegrown star Brett Gardner was not awarded his first Gold Glove until this season, nine years after breaking into the big leagues in 2008.
The 33-year-old ranked second in the American League with a .989 fielding percentage and 249 putouts, just trailing the Royals’ Alex Gordon (.991 FLD %) and the Tigers’ Justin Upton (253 PO’s.) Additionally, the speedster led the MLB with 86 plays made “out of his zone” (OOZ) — 11 more than Upton, who was the runner-up.