Rawlings Gold Glove shines on Dallas Keuchel of Houston Astros

Over the last several years, one could assume much in regards to the Houston Astros, but typically winning wasn’t one of those assumptions. However, the Houston Astros do come away from the 2014 season with at least one win, as staff ace Dallas Keuchel was named the winner of the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award for American League pitchers.

#RawlingsGoldGlove Award WINNER – AL P – @astros Dallas Keuchel/ @kidkeuchy

— Rawlings Baseball (@RawlingsSports) November 5, 2014

The Rawlings Gold Gloves are presented yearly to the best fielders at each position with winners representing both the American League and the National League. The awards are awarded based on two components. Firstly, vote by managers and coaches around the league are tabulated, with the only caveat being that said managers and coaches are not able to vote for their own players. There is also a 25% weight placed on the results based on sabermetric results. Still, there are some cases where some players get snubbed despite deserving the honor. That wasn’t the case with Dallas Keuchel.

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Named as a finalist last week and competing against

Mark Buehrle

of the Toronto Blue Jays and

Felix Hernandez

of the Seattle Mariners, Keuchel was the clear winner. The 26-year-old led all pitchers with 10 Defensive Runs Saved, Plus/Minus Runs Saved Above Average, Assists, and allowed just a single stolen base on the season.

Strong defensive play was key to a pitcher that paced all Major League pitchers with a 63.5% groundball rate, helping Keuchel to break-out in 2014. Overall, Keuchel posted a 12-9 record with a 2.91 ERA, a 3.21 FIP, a 3.11 SIERA, and a 3:1 K/BB ratio. The Gold Glove is an award that Keuchel is very proud of and thankful for.

Humbled and extremely blessed to be a Gold Glove winner! 2014 can't possibly get any better! Thank you for all the support this past season!

— Dallas Keuchel (@kidkeuchy) November 5, 2014

Additionally, per Evan Drellich, Dallas Keuchel pays homage to Greg Maddux as his influence to be a strong defender.

Keuchel made clear to me in August how much he wanted this. "I'm trying to win a Gold Glove. (Greg) Maddux has like 36,000 Gold Gloves."

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) November 5, 2014

Also receiving Gold Glove awards in 2014:

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