Zack Greinke wins first career Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award
Nov 12, 2016, 8:40 AM | Updated: 9:31 am
Zack Greinke leads all pitchers with 34 defensive runs saved since 2012. Tonight he won his first Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award. pic.twitter.com/U4OJiDoFXE
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) November 12, 2016
The roller coaster that the Arizona Diamondbacks are on just took another turn.
After winning his third consecutive Gold Glove, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke has added another defensive award. Greinke is this year’s recipient of the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award at the pitcher position.
At a quick glance, it seems a bit repetitive to have two defensive awards, but the Wilson awards differs from the Gold Glove in that the winners are determined strictly by statistics using Sabermetrics. The Gold Glove is chosen by votes from major league managers and coaches.
The Wilson defensive award is relatively new to Major League Baseball, as it was introduced in 2012. For 2012 and 2013, the award was given to players from both leagues, but starting in 2014, Wilson decided to look for the best defensive players at each position overall.
In addition to naming the best defensive player by position, Wilson also recognizes the best overall defensive player, as well as the best defensive team, regardless of being in the American or National League.
Greinke ranked second in DRS (defensive runs saved) with seven, was first with a 16.6 percent inside edge rating (a statistic used to gauge how difficult a play is) and second with a 2.7 rating in range factor (used to determine the total number of outs in which a player participates).
Other D-backs winners of the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award include second baseman Aaron Hill in 2012, outfielder Gerardo Parra in 2013 and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in 2015. The D-backs also won the overall best defensive team award in 2015.
