Byron Buxton wins the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award - MLB

This year’s Gold Glove Awards have already been passed out, but Friday saw some of the league’s top defenders earn additional accolades during the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards. Twins’ center fielder Byron Buxton earned top honors, taking home the first Wilson Award of his career as the best defensive player overall. Here are the rest of the winners:

Best Pitcher: RHP Tyler Chatwood, Rockies
Best Catcher: Martin Maldonado, Angels
Best First Baseman: Carlos Santana, Indians
Best Second Baseman: DJ LeMahieu, Rockies (two-time champ)
Best Third Baseman: Nolan Arenado, Rockies (three-time champ)
Best Shortstop: Andrelton Simmons, Angels (four-time champ)
Best Left Fielder: Alex Gordon, Royals (two-time champ)
Best Center Fielder: Byron Buxton, Twins
Best Right Fielder: Yasiel Puig, Dodgers

The Dodgers were crowned the best Defensive Team of the Year for the first time, joining a pool of former winners that includes the 2014 Reds, 2015 Diamondbacks and 2016 Giants. Inside Edge gave some insight on their selection:

The @Dodgers win the Wilson Best Defensive Team in Major League Baseball. They made many difficult plays late in the season.

The Dodgers made 39 non-routine plays out of 146 chances (26.7%) in the second half of the 2017 season (Rank: 5th of 30 in MLB; League Avg: 21.6%).#MLB

— Inside Edge (@InsideEdgeScout) November 10, 2017

There was surprisingly little overlap with the Gold Glove winners this time around: only Simmons, Gordon, Buxton and Maldonado were named twice. As MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick pointed out, the Wilson awards take more advanced metrics into account when evaluating the nominees, giving particular weight to Inside Edge fielding data.

The rest of MLB’s end-of-year awards will be announced throughout next week, beginning with the Rookie of the Year Awards on Monday, November 13 at 6 PM ET.

Follow @wcoastfangirl

TAMPA, Fla. — Anthony Volpe grew up watching Derek Jeter star at shortstop for the New York Yankees.

Now, the 21-year-old is getting the chance to be the Yankees’ Opening Day shortstop against the San Francisco Giants.

The team announced after a 6-2 win over Toronto in spring training that Volpe had won the spot. New York manager Aaron Boone called the kid into his office to deliver the news.

“My heart was beating pretty hard,” said Volpe, rated one of baseball’s best prospects. “Incredible. I’m just so excited. It’s hard for me to even put into words.”

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, hitting coach Dillon Lawson and bench coach Carlos Mendoza were also present.

Volpe was able to share the news with his parents and other family members near the Yankees’ dugout and said it is something he will never forget.

“It was pretty emotional,” Volpe said. “It was just an unbelievable moment to share with them.”

Volpe, who grew up a Yankees fan, lived in Manhattan as a child before moving to New Jersey. Jeter was his favorite player.

“It’s very surreal,” Volpe said. “I’ve only ever been to games at Yankee Stadium and for the most part only watched him play there.”

Volpe is hitting .314 with three homers, five RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage in 17 Grapefruit League games. He has just 22 games of experience at Triple-A.

Spring training started with Volpe, Oswald Peraza and holdover Isiah Kiner-Falefa competing for the everyday shortstop job. Kiner-Falefa was shifted into a utility role midway through camp, and Peraza was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

“While certainly the performance was there, he killed it between the lines,” Boone said of Volpe. “All the other things that we’ve been hearing about showed up. There’s an energy he plays the game with, and an instinct that he has that is evident. He really checked every box that we could have had for him. Absolutely kicked the door in and earned his opportunity.”

Volpe arrived in Florida in December to work out at the Yankees’ minor league complex.

“He’s earned the right to take that spot, and we’re excited for him and excited for us,” Cashman said. “He just dominated all sides of the ball during February and March, and that bodes well obviously for him as we move forward.”

Volpe was selected out of high school with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft from Delbarton School in New Jersey. He passed up a college commitment to Vanderbilt to sign with the Yankees.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get into the organization,” Volpe said. “This day, this feeling, this moment was kind of what I’ve worked my whole life for when I made that big decision.”

“Right now it’s crazy,” he added. “I don’t even know what lies ahead but Thursday I just want to go out and play, and have fun.”