Former Arizona baseball star Kevin Newman named finalist for Gold Glove award

It was a combination of his bat and his glove that led to Kevin Newman becoming a first-round draft pick out of Arizona. The hitting part of his toolbox hasn’t been as present in Major League Baseball of late, but Newman can still pick it and throw it with the best of them.

Newman is one of three National League shortstops in the running for the Rawlings Gold Glove award, given annually to the top defensive players at every position.

Brandon Crawford of the San Francisco Giants and Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets are the other finalists. Crawford is a three-time Gold Glove winner, winning three straight from 2015-17, while Lindor won in 2016 and 2019 when he was in the American League with the Cleveland Indians.

Newman, in his fourth season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit just .226 with five home runs and 39 RBI in 148 games in 2021. He started 134 games, including 123 at shortstop, where he committed only three errors all season, and for his career has 27 errors in 357 games.

Lindor committed 10 errors in 124 games in the field with the Mets, while Crawford had nine errors in 135 games with the Giants.

Newman, who played for Arizona from 2013-15, could become the third ex-Wildcat to win a Gold Glove. JT Snow won six straight at first base from 1995-2000 and Kenny Lofton did so four years in a row (1993-96) in center field.