CINCINNATI - Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, shortstop Zack Cozart and center fielder Billy Hamilton were all named Thursday as finalists for the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove awards in the National League.
Phillips is a four-time winner of the award recognizing defensive excellence, including 2013. The Reds led all of Major League Baseball with a .988 fielding percentage and committed just 72 errors, the fewest in the majors, this past season.
Phillips missed more than a month of the season with a torn ligament in his left thumb, an injury sustained diving for a ground ball, but still set a club record by playing 107 consecutive games without an error. He committed just two errors all season and led all National League second basemen with a .996 fielding percentage. He is a finalist with Chase Utley of Philadelphia and D.J. LeMahieu of Colorado.
Cozart tied for second among all MLB shortstops with a .984 fielding percentage after committing 10 errors this season. He committed just three errors after the All-Star break and, according to Fan Graphs, he had the fourth-highest defensive rating (18.7) of any shortstop based on fielding and positional adjustment. He is a finalist along with Andrelton Simmons of Atlanta, who had the highest defensive rating (22.1), and Adeinny Hechavarria of Miami.
Hamilton was playing center field for the just his second professional season but turned in a stellar rookie season in the field. He led all MLB center fielders with a 22.1 defensive rating while playing in 1,199 1/3 innings. He had 10 outfield assists to lead all NL center fielders and committed just two errors. He is a finalist with Juan Lagares of the New York Mets and Denard Span of Washington.
The awards will be announced on Nov. 4. Winners are determined on a combination of voting by managers and coaches, which account for approximately 75 percent of the process, and sabermetric data.
Johnny Bench won 10 Gold Gloves as a catcher for the Reds, the most in franchise history. Second baseman Joe Morgan and shortstop Dave Concepcion are the only other Reds players to win five Gold Gloves. Center fielder Cesar Geronimo won the award four times.
