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The Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards recognizes the best defensive player at each position. Founded in 2012, the winners are 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. Touted as one of the more prominent and respected MLB awards, the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award has gained traction and relativity due to a new age of expanding analytical culture and statistical player analysis.
The 2015 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award winners, by position, are:
- (P) Jacob deGrom - New York Mets
- (C) Buster Posey - San Francisco Giants
- 1B) Paul Goldschmidt - Arizona Diamondbacks
- (2B) Dee Gordon - Miami Marlins
- (3B) Nolan Arenado - Colorado Rockies
- (SS) Andrelton Simmons - Atlanta Braves
- (LF) Starling Marte - Pittsburgh Pirates
- (CF) Kevin Pillar - Toronto Blue Jays
- (RF) Jason Heyward - St. Louis Cardinals
- Defensive Team of the Year - Arizona Diamondbacks
Andrelton Simmons was named the overall 2015 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year. It's the third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Award for Simmons and the first time he has received top accolades as Best Overall Defensive Player. Simmons and Heyward are the only two winners on this year's list who also won the awards last year. The Arizona Diamondbacks received the award for Defensive Team of the Year for the first time.
Notes, by Jim. In some ways, winning this is a bigger honor, on the basis that there is only one award per position for the entire major-leagues. Also, being stats-based, it is less subject to the vagaries of human voting, which as we've seen, tends to take into account both offensive production and previous seasons, rather than purely defense this year. I also note the almost total domination of the National League in these awards, with Pillar the only representative from the American League. That's odd, because DRS and UZR both said the American League were, overall, the better defensive outfit this season.