Royals' Gordon, Cain take home Defensive Player of the Year awards
The postseason accolades keep rolling in for the Kansas City Royals.
Left fielder Alex Gordon and center fielder Lorenzo Cain each picked up a Defensive Player of the Year award Wednesday night, which is determined using a formula that combines traditional defensive stats with advanced metrics, as well as the data logged by the baseball experts working for the scouting service Inside Edge.
Cain won his second consecutive award after ranking third in the majors in zone rating (.949). He finished fourth among American League outfielders in range factor per 9.0 innings (2.80), seventh in putouts (338) and tied for 11th with a career high eight assists. In 133 games this season, the Royals center fielder committed just two errors in 348 chances for a .994 fielding percentage.
Gordon was honored by Wilson with a Defensive Player of the Year award for the first time in his career. He tied for 11th in the AL with eight outfield assists this season, while his 62 assists since the start of 2011 are the most in the big leagues in that span. He led all AL outfielders in games (156) and innings (1372.2) for the second-straight year and finished sixth in putouts (341) and committed just two errors in 351 chances for a .994 fielding percentage.
2014 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award Winners
P: Johnny Cueto (Reds)
C: Russell Martin (Pirates)
1B: Adrian Gonzalez (Dodgers)
2B: Ian Kinsler (Tigers)
3B: Juan Uribe (Dodgers)
SS: Andrelton Simmons (Braves)
LF: Alex Gordon (Royals)
CF: Lorenzo Cain (Royals)
RF: Jason Heyward (Braves )*
Defensive Team of the Year: Cincinnati Reds
*Heyward named overall 2014 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year.
