Clayton Kershaw was voted among the top defensive pitchers in baseball by Sports Info Solutions (SIS), finishing fifth in voting for the 2023 Fielding Bible Award.
Kansas City Royals veteran, and Kerhsaw’s former teammate, Zack Greinke took the top spot with nine of 16 first-place votes. Rounding out the top five was the Miami Marlins’ Jesús Luzardo, José Berríos of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Philadelphia Phillies’ Taijuan Walker, along with Kershaw.
Although Kershaw was limited by a shoulder injury for a good portion of the year, he still had one of the best defensive seasons of his career.
In 24 starts, Kershaw posted a perfect fielding percentage, going 21-for-21 on his chances with five putouts and 16 assists. He also helped turn one double play across 131.2 innings pitched.
The future Hall of Famer totaled four defensive runs saved, his best mark since 2015 when he had five in 100 more innings. He had a career high of six DRS that was set twice, first in 2012 and again in 2014, which put Kershaw on pace for a new career-best in 2023 if not for the shoulder injury.
Fielding Bible Award winners were determined by a 16-person voting panel. The group selected 11 winners, with one at each position, plus for the best multi-position player and a Defensive Player of the Year.
The voting panel consisted of SIS co-founder John Dewan, Bill James, Daniel Álvarez-Montes (El Extra Base), Chris Dial (sabermetrician), Alyson Footer (MLB.com), Peter Gammons (The Athletic), Tyler Kepner (The Athletic), Bill Ladson (MLB.com), Eduardo Pérez (ESPN), Hal Richman (Strat-O-Matic), Travis Sawchik (The Score), Bobby Scales (SIS), Joe Sheehan, Mark Simon (SIS), Dani Wexelman (MLB Network Radio), and an aggregate vote from the SIS Video Scout staff.
A first-place vote garnered 10 points, second-place received nine points, third-place got eight points, and so forth. It is the 18th season SIS has honored the best defensive players in MLB.
Dodgers up for Fielding Bible Awards
Mookie Betts was voted the winner of the 2023 multi-position Fielding Bible Award. Betts has now won six Fielding Bible Awards in his career, with the previous five coming in right field (2016-2020, 2022).
Meanwhile, Miguel Rojas finished fifth among shortstops for the 2023 Fielding Bible Award with Dansby Swanson of the Chicago Cubs winning the top spot unanimously.
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