PHOENIX
The Arizona Diamondbacks spent the season trying to become a team that catches everything, and on Wednesday the sport certified the attempt. Rawlings announced the finalists for the 2026 Gold Glove Awards, and four Diamondbacks made the cut — catcher Gabriel Moreno, shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, right fielder Corbin Carroll and utility man Ildemaro Vargas — the headline act of a defensive season in which Arizona finished with the second-fewest errors in the major leagues.
Arizona Sports, in its account of the announcement, put the four finalists in the context the club built all year: the Diamondbacks went into the season focused on improving their defense, and collectively it worked. Burn City Sports, in its write-up of the finalists, reached the same conclusion from the numbers — a defense that got its flowers across the whole diamond, from behind the plate to the outfield corner to the man who played everywhere.
Moreno's Second Run at It
Moreno is the group's proven hardware. The catcher led all National League catchers with 14 defensive runs saved, per Burn City Sports' breakdown of the finalists, with a fielding run value of nine — a season built on pitch framing, blocking and controlling the running game. He is going for his second Gold Glove in four years with the Diamondbacks, Arizona Sports noted; the other finalists at the position are San Diego's Freddy Fermin and the Mets' Luis Torrens, per Rawlings' announcement.
Perdomo, the Anchor
Perdomo's case is the breakout one. The shortstop ranked second in the National League with eight defensive runs saved and piled up 16 outs above average with a fielding run value of 13, per Burn City Sports — elite range numbers at the sport's most demanding infield position. He has never won a Gold Glove; to get his first, he will have to beat out St. Louis' Masyn Winn and Chicago's Dansby Swanson, the other finalists named by Rawlings.
Carroll, Again — and Vargas, at Last
Carroll's nomination is the repeat: his second consecutive finalist selection in right field, earned, per Burn City Sports, with 12 defensive runs saved and 10 outs above average in a season interrupted by injuries — the speed that makes him a terror on the bases turned outward, running down extra-base hits in the gap. His competition, per Rawlings, is the Mets' Carson Benge and Chicago's Seiya Suzuki.
Vargas is the sentimental favorite of the four. The utility category exists for exactly his season — a veteran infielder moved all over the diamond who kept the defensive standard wherever he landed — and the nomination is the first finalist selection of his career. Rawlings has him up against Atlanta's Mauricio Dubón and Pittsburgh's Jared Triolo.
How the Winners Get Picked
Gold Glove finalists are named three to a position in each league, and the winners are chosen from there through Rawlings' long-standing process: votes from major league managers and coaches, combined with a statistical component built on the SABR Defensive Index. It is a system designed to reward exactly the season Arizona's four had — the plays the eye test remembers, backed by the range and run-prevention numbers the index tracks. Four finalists also puts the Diamondbacks at the top of the National League's representation: only the Chicago Cubs matched Arizona's four names on Rawlings' list.
There is a team-building argument embedded in the announcement, too. Arizona Sports framed the finalists as the payoff of an organizational decision — the Diamondbacks identified defense as the fixable flaw and spent the season proving it, finishing with the second-fewest errors in baseball while playing the kind of clean infield and outfield defense that travels in October. Individual awards are voted on résumés; four résumés from one roster is a philosophy showing up in the paperwork.
The Rest of the National League Picture
Arizona's four headline a finalist class with plenty of star power elsewhere on Rawlings' list. The pitching finalists are the Mets' Nolan McLean, St. Louis' Michael McGreevy and Atlanta's Chris Sale; first base pairs San Diego's Ty France with Atlanta's Matt Olson and Colorado's TJ Rumfield; third base runs through the Dodgers' Max Muncy, Chicago's Alex Bregman and Miami's Javier Sanoja. In the outfield, Chicago placed a finalist at every spot — Ian Happ in left, Pete Crow-Armstrong in center and Seiya Suzuki in right, where he goes up against Carroll. For the Diamondbacks' four, the paths are narrow but real: each sits in a three-man race where his defensive numbers, as Burn City Sports laid them out, argue as loudly as anyone's.
What It Would Mean
Arizona Sports noted the recent history the four are chasing: the most recent Diamondback to win a Gold Glove was first baseman Christian Walker in 2024, his final season with the club, and Moreno is the only one of this year's finalists who has won before. Winners will be announced later this fall. However the votes land, the finalist list itself is the organizational receipt — a team that decided defense was going to be its identity, and then got four men named among the three best defenders at their jobs in the league. Follow the Diamondbacks and the rest of the offseason on Previously's sports hub.
