Following the Kansas City Royals' World Series victory and consecutive AL pennants, it's more clear than ever that excellent defensive play can have a major impact on overall team success. The challenge then is in recognizing it.
When Lorenzo Cain makes a diving catch to rob a hitter of extra bases, it's obvious he made a great play. However, the best defenders often make difficult plays look routine because of their range, arm strength, anticipation and decision-making. Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) tackles that problem with its defensive runs saved (DRS) statistic, which at its core evaluates players' abilities to turn batted balls into outs relative to the league average out rates of similar batted balls based on their locations and velocities.
With DRS as a benchmark, here are the biggest snubs from the 2015 MLB Gold Glove Award selections, as well as what we considered the best picks.
Biggest snubs
Ian Kinsler, 2B, Detroit Tigers: Kinsler simply cannot catch a break.