Dansby Swanson and Max Fried are Atlanta Braves Gold Glove winners

Atlanta Braves ace Max Fried and impending free agent shortstop Dansby Swanson have been announced as Gold Glove Award winners

As you may recall, the Atlanta Braves were recently honored with four nominations for the most prestigious positional fielding award in baseball, the Gold Glove Award.

Speculation was thrown around in many community circles regarding who might be the most likely to win the award out of the group, and with today’s announcement, these questions have been put to bed. Braves ace Max Fried and long-time shortstop Dansby Swanson have officially won the National League Gold Glove Award for their respective positions.

For Fried, this is his third consecutive Gold Glove, establishing him as arguably the game’s best fielding pitcher. For Swanson, this is his first season winning the award after several years of elite defensive play and despite leading the majors in defensive runs saved in 2020. This is also the second consecutive year in which the Atlanta Braves have had two Gold Glove winners.

Swanson led major-league shortstops with a whopping 20 outs above average, seven more than the next-closest Francisco Lindor. He also led shortstops in defensive rating by 5.4 points and contributed to 9 defensive runs saved on top of that.

Fried was third among National League pitchers with 3 defensive runs saved, only committed one error in the regular season, and allowed only 3 stolen bases all year – the best figure in the National League.

The Braves have garnered a reputation as a strong defensive team ever since they came out of their rebuild in 2018. Since then, the team has seen six Gold Glove winners and nearly a dozen nominations for the award.

Much of the public praise for the Braves’ defensive success, particularly in the infield, has gone to third base coach Ron Washington, and for good reason. His infamous infield drills have seen the Braves infielders get the most out of their talented skill sets, and it certainly seems to be paying off.

However, a big portion of the credit deserves to go to the Braves’ front office as well. They have defined a clear philosophy of prioritizing elite defenders in trade negotiations as well as developing them in the farm system. Between Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson, Max Fried, Matt Olson, and Adam Duvall, Atlanta Braves fans have been treated to a defensive clinic over the years.

If four nominations and two winners are an indication of anything, it’s that there will be more Gold Glove Awards for Braves players in the future. Feel free to leave your thoughts on the Braves winners and possible snubs in the comments below.