Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
All that internet outrage Tuesday night about declaring winners and losers? Pretty sure it concerned Brandon Belt.
The Giants first baseman is still in search of his first Gold Glove after losing to the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo, who earned the distinction bizarrely on the same night as the world tuned in to the presidential election. Belt and St. Louis’ Paul Goldschmidt were the other finalists.
Belt was the only Giant to be nominated, though Brandon Crawford, Evan Longoria and Mauricio Dubon had arguments. The 32-year-old has been an excellent first baseman for his 10 years with San Francisco, though never has been golden.
In 51 games, Belt posted the third best outs above average at first base in the NL and made two errors in 351 1/3 innings. There was little campaigning to do, as this year did not include voting: The SABR Defensive Index determined the winner.
There’s still hope for Belt to take away some hardware from a season in which his 1.015 OPS was the fifth best in the National League. Belt is one of six nominees for the All-MLB Team at first base, though Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman is the heavy favorite. The other choices are Goldschmidt, the White Sox’s Jose Abreu, the Mets’ Dominic Smith and the Yankees’ Luke Voit.