MLB’s Platinum Glove is an award intended to honor the top overall defender in each league. In theory, it could be treated as a prestigious accomplishment and determined by a thoughtful process.
In practice, MLB decides it via an easily swayed fan vote and news-dumps it late on a Friday night, unlike pretty much every other individual sports award out there. Because that’s how much you should apparently care about this trophy.
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Anyway, the 2025 winners of the very important Platinum Glove are Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., as announced by Rawlings at 10:48 p.m. ET. Congratulations to them.
The winners of the award were determined by a fan vote among the 10 Gold Glove winners in each league. Perhaps coincidentally, they were also the biggest names to win a Gold Glove in each league.
The full field:
American League Gold Glove winners
Catcher: Dillon Dingler, Detroit Tigers
First base: Ty France, Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays
Second base: Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers
Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
Third base: Maikel Garcia, Kansas City Royals
Pitcher: Max Fried, New York Yankees
Left field: Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians
Center field: Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox
Right field: Wilyer Abreu, Boston Red Sox
Utility: Mauricio Dubón, Houston Astros
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National League Gold Glove winners
Catcher: Patrick Bailey, San Francisco Giants
First base: Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves
Second base: Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs
Shortstop: Masyn Winn, St. Louis Cardinals
Third base: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Cincinnati Reds
Pitcher: Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
Left field: Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs
Center field: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
Right field: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
Utility: Javier Sanoja, Miami Marlins
Earlier in the night, the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers were announced as the winners of the Team Gold Gloves.
In the AL this season, Witt was third among all defenders in Fielding Run Value and 17th in defensive runs saved while playing shortstop. In the NL, Tatis was sixth in DRS and 12th in FRV while playing right field. This is Tatis’ second time taking home the award after winning it in 2023, in which he was first in DRS and fourth in FRV.
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Of course, comparing defensive value across multiple positions is rather hard, so those advanced defensive metrics aren’t the be-all, end-all. Which might make you wonder whether such an award is inherently flawed given that it asks fans to tackle complicated defensive questions, though at worst it’s still a nice thing to add to a résumé.