The Padres have two players named National League Gold Glove finalists on Wednesday.

Major League Baseball released the list of finalists for each position’s Gold Glove for both leagues on Wednesday.

MLB stated, “To determine the winners at the nine standard positions, the 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team vote from a pool of players in their league, excluding players from their own team. These votes comprise 75% of the selection total, with the SABR Defensive Index counting for the other 25%.”

The Padres have two players who were named finalists at their respective positions. Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field and Ha-Seong Kim in two categories, one for second base and another for the recently added “utility” category.

Tatis’ transition from shortstop to right field is well documented. The level at which he played a new position at the major league level is astounding. He was second in all of baseball in Defensive Runs Saved at 27. Only Toronto’s Daulton Varsho had more. Seeing as he is in the American League, that means Tatis has the highest Defensive Runs Saved of any National League defender at any position.

He was in the 94th percentile for Outs Above Average and the 99th percentile for arm strength. Among right fielders specifically, he led with 11 Outs Above Average. Second place had six. Tatis was also tied for the third-most outfield assists with 12.

Not only should Tatis win the NL Gold Glove for right fielders, he nearly requires serious consideration for the Platinum Glove, which is given to one top defender in each league by fan vote.

For Ha-Seong Kim, he broke out at the plate in 2023 while maintaining his Gold Glove-level defense. After being basically the full-time shortstop last season in Tatis’ absence, he moved to a more super-utility role this season, playing 106 games at second base, 32 games at third, and 20 at shortstop. He played each position with sparkling defense.

Overall, he posted 16 Defensive Runs Saved combined at all three of those infield positions, including ten at second base. Hence, Kim was named as a finalist at second base and also as a utility player. Last year, Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan won the inaugural NL Gold Glove for utility players. If Kim doesn’t win at second base (he should), he should at least win the utility award.

Kim was second among NL second basemen in Defensive Runs Saved under Nico Hoerner, who mostly played strictly second base while Kim bounced around. He was in the 96th percentile for Outs Above Average.

There is a legitimate chance the Padres have two Gold Glove winners this season. The Padres have not had multiple Gold Glove winners in the same season since 1996 (Ken Caminiti and Steve Finley).

Winners will be announced on November 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.