The Toronto Blue Jays received some good news this week as five of the team’s players are finalists for the 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards.
The Gold Glove Award is given annually to the best fielder at each of the nine positions on the baseball diamond, plus one for the best utility player. That means there are 10 Gold Glove Awards given out in the American League and another 10 in the National League, for a total of 20.
But before the winners are announced in November, we get to see the three finalists at each position.
Blue Jays 2026 Gold Glove Finalists
Here are the five Blue Jays who have been named finalists for the 2026 Gold Glove Awards:
- Jose Soriano, P
- Brandon Valenzuela, C
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B
- Andres Gimenez, SS
- Nathan Lukes, RF
This is the first time that Soriano, Valenzuela, and Lukes have been finalists for the Gold Glove Award, while Guerrero has won it once and Gimenez has won the award three times.
With five Gold Glove Award finalists, the Blue Jays tied the Chicago Cubs for the most from any MLB team this season.
“FIVE Blue Jays are #GoldGlove Award Finalists. Winners are announced Nov. 1!” the Blue Jays shared on X.
Winners are announced Nov. 1!
Will the Blue Jays Have Any Gold Glove Winners?
Taking a look at the five Blue Jays named finalists for the Gold Glove, while all five of them have a chance to win the award, it feels like Guerrero is the only true favorite to do so at his position.
At first base, Guerrero was tied for the lead among AL 1B with +6 OAA alongside New York Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. It’s worth noting that Goldschmidt was not a finalist for the award this year, as Vinnie Pasquantino of the Kansas City Royals and Christian Walker of the Houston Astros were the other two men named as the finalists.
There is a very good argument that Guerrero was the most outstanding defensive 1B in the AL this year, so don’t be surprised if and when he wins the award. Despite a down season offensively with the bat, Guerrero was fantastic with the glove, and he deserves to win the award.
Taking a look at Valenzuela, the rookie catcher was absolutely fantastic this season in his first year in the major leagues, as he was one of the top defensive catchers by advanced statistics even though he didn’t play as many games as the other catchers.
That being said, Dillon Dingler of the Detroit Tigers is the clear favorite to take home the award, and Austin Wells of the Yankees was solid with the glove this year, too.
At pitcher, Soriano had a very good season defensively split between Toronto and the Los Angeles Angels. The other finalists are Jacob deGrom of the Texas Rangers and Tanner Bibee of the Cleveland Guardians. The pitching Gold Glove Award is always hard to quantify, so any of these players have a chance to win it.
At right field, Lukes showed off a cannon arm for the Blue Jays, but he will likely lose out to Wilyer Abreu of the Boston Red Sox, who was one of the league’s top defensive players regardless of position. Cam Smith of the Houston Astros is the other finalist.
Finally, Gimenez is looking to win his fourth Gold Glove Award for the Blue Jays, though his first as a shortstop, as his other awards came when he was a second baseman.
While Gimenez’s +19 OAA was exceptional, it lags slightly behind Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr., who had +24 OAA, and is the favorite to claim the award. Taylor Walls of the Tampa Bay Rays is the other finalist.
Blue Jays Get 5 Gold Glove Award Finalists