France and Fermin named Gold Glove finalists, and the Padres defense has the receipts

SAN DIEGO: The Padres announced on Wednesday that first baseman Ty France and catcher Freddy Fermin have been named 2026 National League Gold Glove Award finalists, finishing in the top three at their positions. The winners at each position in each league will be announced on Nov. 1.

France is chasing a repeat. He won his first Gold Glove last season as an American League first baseman while splitting the year between the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays, and he returned to San Diego in February, having first been drafted by the Padres out of San Diego State in 2015. This season he played 127 games at first base, starting 116 of them, made just three errors and was involved in 75 double plays.

Photo: Ian D'Andrea / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

His competition is formidable. The other two finalists at first base are Matt Olson of Atlanta, who won the National League award at the position last year, and TJ Rumfield of the Colorado Rockies.

A first nomination for the catcher

Fermin, by contrast, is looking for his first Gold Glove. After years as a backup with the Kansas City Royals, he took over as the Padres primary catcher this season. The other finalists at catcher are Gabriel Moreno of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Luis Torrens of the New York Mets.

The balloting is already complete. Managers and up to six coaches from each of the 30 teams vote for the best defenders at each position, though they cannot vote for players on their own club. That vote accounts for 75 percent of the selection, with the SABR Defensive Index making up the remaining 25 percent. There is only one round of balloting.

Photo: Vidor / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

For the Padres, the two nominations are a measure of what held up all year: the defense on the right side of the infield and behind the plate. Whether either man converts the nomination into the award will be known on Nov. 1, when the winners are announced on ESPN.