Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ha-Seong Kim are both shortstops by trade. Both of them now own hardware as the best defensive player at their position in the entire National League. That position, however, is not shortstop.
Tatis Jr. and Kim won their first career Gold Glove Awards over the weekend. Tatis Jr. earned it as a right fielder while Kim was named the league's top utility player.
Despite missing the first 20 games of the year to finish a PED suspension, Tatis Jr. led all of Major League Baseball with 29 defensive runs saved, a statistic that measures how a player's defense prevents other teams from scoring (kind of like the anti-RBI). He also probably let the world in stadium-rattling highlight reel plays, be it catches at the wall or rifling 99 MPH throws to home to cut down baserunners. Fernando is the first Padres right fielder to win a Gold Glove since the late, great Tony Gwynn.
Kim was stellar at three different positions. He got most of his reps at 2nd base but filled in at shortstop when Xander Bogaerts was injured and moved to 3rd base when Manny Machado was ailing and limited to a designated hitter role. Kim made just seven errors in 571 fielding chances. Kim is the first Padres infielder to win a Gold Glove since Eastlake High School product Adrian Gonzalez in 2009.
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