Could Padres’ Manny Machado earn another Gold Glove award in 2022?

San Diego Padres’ third baseman Manny Machado is no stranger to the Gold Glove award. He’s earned two in his career, and he could be well on his way to a third one this season.

Machado’s currently the best third baseman in all of MLB in multiple advanced fielding stats. Among all positions, he’s fifth in outs above average, per Baseball Savant. This season, he has the most fielding runs prevented than any other season.

He has the best FanGraphs defensive rating (7.4) among all third basemen and has three DRS. Machado currently has his second-best fielding percentage of his career, just .001 points behind his best.

He’s up to 15 double plays and 106 assists this season out of 147 total chances. He’s also only made two errors. Despite the Padres having a great defensive team, he’s managed to stand out above the rest.

How does Manny Machado compare to the rest of the San Diego Padres?

The second-best fielder for the Padres is shortstop Ha-seong Kim. Kim’s done exceptionally well this season filling in for Fernando Tatis Jr. while he’s on the injured list, but he still falls pretty short of achieving what Machado has.

Kim has a defensive rating of 5.7 and has 6 OAA and half the fielding runs prevented (3) that Machado does. Machado’s OAA is eight and fielding runs prevented is six. He’s made more errors than Machado (three) over 206 total chances. His fielding percentage is just below Machado’s at .985.

Among all positions in the NL, Machado is the third-best defender and Kim is the 12th.

On a larger scheme, he’s also directly up against more recent Gold Glove award winners and other highly talented third basemen.

San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado has to stand out above former Gold Glove award winners

Last season, St. Louis Cardinals’ third baseman Nolan Arenado won a Gold Glove award, his ninth consecutive. Nine Gold Glove awards in a row is one of the biggest ways to show how people view your defensive talent, but Machado is still standing out above Arenado this season.

Arenado falls seventh-best among all positions in the NL and third-best among all third basemen in MLB. His defensive rating is 6.3 and his DRS is nine. His OAA is six and fielding runs prevented is five, just slightly below Machado.

Compared to previous seasons, Arenado is doing his worst. He has his lowest ever fielding percentage at .965 and has made six errors over 172 total chances. Though he’s not a bad player, he’s noticeably below the results that got him Gold Gloves for several years.

In advanced metrics, Machado’s biggest competitor is currently Pittsburgh Pirates’ third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. Hayes is only in the third season of his MLB career and hasn’t won any Gold Glove awards, but he is second-best among third basemen in all of MLB and trails close behind Machado.

Hayes has a defensive rating of 7.1, just 0.3 points behind Machado. He has the highest DRS (14) among all third basemen in MLB. His fielding percentage is slightly higher than Arenado’s at .968.

If Hayes can stay off the injured list following a collision with Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras at home plate last night, he’ll be one of the strongest contenders for the Gold Glove award alongside Machado.