A year ago there were whispers that Dustin Pedroia‘s glove was in decline. His range was slipping and the four-time Gold Glove winner appeared to be past his peak. Turns out it was just a down year, likely brought on by a series of injuries that hindered his performance over the past few seasons. Now healthy, Pedroia delivered his best season in years on both sides of the field.
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The veteran second baseman tied for the league lead at his position with 12 DRS and 8 Rpm. He committed six errors, posting a .990 fielding percentage that ranked second among players with at least 100 starts at the position.
One of the traits that was most impressive about Pedroia’s defense was his fearlessness in holding his ground when turning a double-play. While rule changes eliminating the wipe-out slide have made this task a bit easier, Pedroia still turns two as quickly as anyone from second base.
He isn’t too shabby at fielding a grounder to initiate the double-play either.
The crafty veteran is one of the smartest defensive infielders in the game. While his range may not be quite what it once was, Pedroia still makes a number of remarkable highlight reel worthy plays. He’ll be challenged by Detroit’s
Ian Kinslerand Seattle’s
Robinson Cano, but Pedroia has a solid chance of edging both of them out for his fifth Gold Glove.