Three Dutchies nominated for the Gold Glove Award

Yesterday the nominees for the Gold Glove Awards were announced by MLB.

At the position of shortstop, three Dutchies are nominated; two in the American League East and one in the National League East.

In the National League, Andrelton Simmons is nominated again. If he wins again this year, it would be his third consecutive Gold Glove. Simmons posted a fielding percentage of .988 which is fourteen points higher than the league average. In 147 games he had 444 assists, he made 235 putouts and committed 8 errors.
His competitors for the award, Brandon Crawford (Giants) and Adeiny Hechavarria (Marlins) posted a fielding percentage of .979 (in 140 games) and .984 (in 130 games) respectively.
Here is some footage of Andrelton Simmons. It proves once again that he is a very slick fielder.

In the American League there is a Dutch representative from Aruba and one from Curacao.

The Aruban representative is Xander Bogaerts of course. The shortstop of the Red Sox had 429 assists, and made 11 errors, leading to a .984 fielding percentage in 156 games, twelve points higher than the league average.

One of Bogaerts’ main competitors is Alcides Escobar (Royals). The 28-year old Venezuelan posted a .980 fielding percentage in 148 games. This link shows an MLB page with several clips of Xander Bogaerts, both hitting and fielding.
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The other competitor is Dutch/Curacaoan Mariekson “Didi” Gregorius. The 25-year old shortstop, who was born in Amsterdam, had some big shoes to fill this year. In the first 2.5 months of the season, DIdi struggled both at bat as in the field. The bulk of the errors that he committed this season, were made in the first 2.5 months. In 155 games he made 430 assists, had 177 put outs and committed 13 errors, resulting in a fielding percentage of .979.
In the first 2.5 months Didi committed 8 errors. After June 15 he only committed 5. With only 5 errors, 114 put outs and 279 assists in the remainder of the season, he posted a .987 fielding percentage after June 15. Here is some footage of Didi, showing an outline of his first season with the Yankees. Next to Andrelton Simmons, Didi may have the best reach of the Dutchie shortstops.

Of course Bogaerts’ numbers are much better for the whole season, but again, Didi had some big shoes to fill and needed time to adapt. If you look only to the stats, Bogaerts should win the AL Gold Glove for the position short stop. But the stats of Didi tell a story of struggle in the first months. After that period he blossomed.

I would vote for Didi. But I know I am biased.