One-half Diamondback named to Gold Glove finalists

Here is the full list of nominees in the National League, along with their number of previous awards.

Pitcher
Zack Greinke, Dodgers (0)
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (1)
Adam Wainwright, Cardinals (2)

Catcher
Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers (0)
Russell Martin, Pirates (1)
Yadier Molina, Cardinals (6)

First Base
Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers (3)
Adam LaRoche, Nationals (1)
Justin Morneau, Rockies (0)

Second Base
DJ LeMahieu, Rockies (0)
Brandon Phillips, Reds (4)
Chase Utley, Phillies (0)

Shortstop
Zack Cozart, Reds (0)
Adeiny Hechavarria, Marlins (0)
Andrelton Simmons, Braves (1)

Third Base
Nolan Arenado, Rockies (1)
Pablo Sandoval, Giants (0)
Juan Uribe, Dodgers (0)

Left Field
Starling Marte, Pirates (0)
Justin Upton, Braves (0)
Christian Yelich, Marlins (0)

Center Field
Billy Hamilton, Reds (0)
Juan Lagares, Mets (0)
Denard Span, Nationals (0)

Right Field
Jason Heyward, Braves (1)
Gerardo Parra, Diamondbacks/Brewers (2)
Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins (0)

Much though I'd like to go off on a rant about how the Diamondbacks have been unjustly ignored... I can't really do so with any particular enthusiasm. Part of it is the problem we had with injuries, meaning a lack of players with enough time to make an impact. Only two men - Aaron Hill and Miguel Montero - started more than two-thirds of our games. While the qualifying standard is pretty low [more or less, 55% of team games before rosters expand], you're going to get more consideration, simply through playing every day. Miss one-third or more of your team's contests, and it's going to be pretty tough.

The best D-backs by UZR/150, were Ender Inciarte and A.J. Pollock, who came in at 25.5 and 19.0 respectively. That's decent, though short of what Parra managed last season, at 32.3. Inciarte might have merited consideration, given he did play over 900 innings this year, and his straight UZR figure (not adjusted for playing time) of 19.2, ranked third among NL outfielders, behind Heyward and Hamilton; Pollock was eighth by the same figure. Parra, interestingly, was a long way back, putting up a UZR of only 0.1. He did seem less effective this year, though the volatility of fielding stats is also well known. Amusing he now appears to be getting the benefit of prior reputation!

On the infield, Didi Gregorius and Chris Owings both played close to the same number of innings, though neither started even 80 games this year. I note that Owings had a significant edge in UZR/150 at short, but trails both Simmons and Cozart by quite some way (as well as Jhonny Peralta, curiously), so we'll see if this might play in to how the team organizes things next season. Owings got to more balls in his zone (81.6% compared to 79.5% for Didi), though Gregorius did make a couple more plays out of the zone. It wouldn't surprise me to see one or other make the list in future, but they'll need to play every day for that to happen.