One of the things I always worry about with awards is that it’s only the winners that are well-remembered across the baseball landscape. That’s not entirely fair, particularly with something like the Fielding Bible Awards (and the Gold Gloves) because defense is such a hard thing to measure, and for most of the awards a case could be made for other players to win.

The last couple of years I’ve written a Stat of the Week honoring the players who were the runners-up for the Fielding Bible Awards. This is this year’s version.

Catcher- Gabriel Moreno finished only one run behind Award winner Dillon Dingler in Defensive Runs Saved. Moreno has won this Award before so its not like he hasn’t been recognized in the past. But he’s quite good. The thing he had most going for him this year was the ERA differential between when he caught and when he didn’t. It was 3.72 vs 4.90. Moreno seems to have played a big role in getting the most out of pitchers like Eduardo Rodriguez. Moreno edged out Luis Torrens of the Mets for second place in this year’s voting.

First Base – Ty France led the position in Defensive Runs Saved and finished just two points shy of Matt Olson in the balloting. This was France’s best season yet statistically. He just happened to be going up against a guy who is an everyday machine and highly regarded. Props to France for having the best offensive season of his career too.

Second Base – JJ Wetherholt finished third in Defensive Runs Saved and his positional lead in MLB’s Fielding Run Value likely swayed some voters to push him ahead of Cole Young and Brandon Lowe. Wetherholt excelled at two things: getting outs on balls hit to his right that other fielders weren’t getting, and turning double plays. He’ll be a formidable candidate for NL Rookie of the Year.

Third Base – Matt Chapman was limited to 83 games by injury but still co-led third basemen in Defensive Runs Saved. Voters decided to reward Alex Bregman’s durability over Chapman’s excellence in a shorter time period, but it was another big year for the Giants third baseman. He passed Scott Rolen into third place in Runs Saved since the stat was first tracked in 2003. The two players ahead of him are Adrian Beltre and Nolan Arenado.

Shortstop – Masyn Winn, a 2024 winner of the Award, came in a strong second to Taylor Walls. Winn’s numbers were a little short of his 2024 numbers but he was again one of the best shortstops in baseball in turning double plays. He also ranked third among shortstops in Good Fielding Plays with 31, one behind co-leaders Elly De La Cruz and Gunnar Henderson.

Left Field – Jackson Chourio might be the one to end Ian Happ’s hold on the NL Gold Glove Award at this position. Chourio beat Happ handily for second place behind Cody Bellinger in the Fielding Bible voting. He had 13 Runs Saved, the best at any position in his career.

Center Field – I’m going to cheat a little here. I’ve written about the top three center fielders in the voting—Cedanne Rafaela, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Andy Pages—throughout the season. They’re (in my opinion) clearly the three best ones. But the fourth-place finisher in our voting was pretty good too. That’s Michael Harris II of the Braves. Harris totaled 9 Runs Saved and finished third at the position in the Range component of Runs Saved. He’s one of the top center fielders in the game and is someone who can be trusted to make a catch in a big spot.

Right Field – Corbin Carroll has a challenging job as right fielder for the Diamondbacks given all the ground he has to cover. It’s particularly impressive that he finished second in the Range component of Runs Saved. What’s separating Carroll from serious Fielding Bible Awards consideration is his -10 Outfield Arm Runs Saved the last three seasons. He may get there eventually because his range is that good. For now, he’s a runner-up.

Pitcher – Shota Imanaga was good enough to win a Fielding Bible Award but came up just one point shy in the balloting to Tanner Bibee. Imanaga handled 26 chances without either an error or a Defensive Misplay and totaled 5 pickoffs, just shy of the MLB lead.

A cap-tip as well to reliever Brent Suter who placed third. He’s the first relief pitcher to lead the major leagues in Runs Saved and deservedly so given that he nearly led all pitchers in both pickoffs and assists.

Multi-Position – Steven Kwan doesn’t need me to tell people he’s good. But what stood out about Kwan this season was that he wasn’t just good in left field, he was good in center field too. The conversion from a corner outfield spot to center is often a challenging one, but Kwan, who has won three Fielding Bible Awards, handled it well both in terms of range and arm. He managed 6 Runs Saved in only 88 games.

Team – The Tampa Bay Rays finished second to the Cubs in Runs Saved and finished second to them in the Awards voting for Team of the Year. The Rays had a Fielding Bible Award winner at shortstop in Taylor Walls and had a very good outfield between impressive rookie Victor Mesa Jr., Cedric Mullins, Jonny DeLuca, and Chandler Simpson. The skill of their outfielders (omitting positioning) was apparent in the team’s 29 Runs Saved from those positions. Only three teams had more.

And let’s give credit where due to the Rays infield positioning. They recorded more Runs Saved for that than any other team in 2026.