Detroit Tigers: Will Verlander, McCann, Kinsler or Iglesias Win a Gold Glove?

Justin Verlander

Position: Pitcher
DRS: 5
rSB: 2
Competition: Toronto’s R.A. Dickey and Houston’s Dallas Keuchel

This year’s finalists for the American League Gold Glove at pitcher certainly have a history of taking home silverware.

Keuchel has won the award for the American League’s best pitcher in both 2014 and 2015, while also taking home the Cy Young last season.

Meanwhile, Dickey took home the National League Cy Young in 2012 while pitching for the New York Mets. The veteran starter also won a Gold Glove in his first season with Toronto, back in 2013.

This is all without mentioning Verlander’s considerable trophy cabinet. The future Hall of Famer has taken home just about every individual award possible with a Cy Young, an MVP award and Rookie of the Year honors on his resume.

Among the finalists, there isn’t much separating the three.

Close Race

A DRS (defensive runs saved) of five may not seem like much, but Verlander finished tied for third in the league in the category. Dickey (six DRS) and Keuchel (seven DRS) finished just ahead of Detroit’s resident ace.

In terms of rSB, a stat for pitchers and catchers relative to the running game, Verlander and Dickey finished tied atop the league leaderboard with a +2 number. Keuchel finished just behind the duo with at +1.

The trio are closely bunched in terms of advanced statistics, leaving no clear favorite. Dickey may have a slight edge based on the numbers, but it’s slight at best.

However, given that the voting process, it’s anyone’s game. According to MLB.com, “Major League managers and coaches, voting only within their league and unable to vote for players on their own teams, account for 75 percent of the selection process. The other 25 percent goes to the sabermetrics community.”