By KEVIN MCLPIN
680 THE FAN, ATLANTA – While most of the country had their sights set on the results of the 2020 Presidential Election, Rawlings was busy announcing the winners of the Gold Glove Awards for the recently concluded season. The Braves had three finalists with Dansby Swanson (SS), Ronald Acuna Jr (CF) and Max Fried (P) announced last week as the top three at their respective positions.

On Tuesday night, Max Fried earned his first career Gold Glove as he beat out a pair of Cubs hurlers in Kyle Hendricks and Alec Mills who finished as runners up to the Braves 26 year old southpaw. In 56 innings on the mound during the shortened campaign, Fried made just one error for a .941 fielding percentage. In taking home the award, he became the first Braves pitcher to earn a Gold Glove since Mike Hampton took home the honors in 2003. Greg Maddux holds the franchise record among pitchers, taking home ten consecutive from 1993 through 2002.

While Dansby Swanson and Ronald Acuna Jr came up short, you can’t underestimate how important both of those guys were for the Braves up the middle this season. For Swanson, his defense has taken significant strides forward over the last few seasons, while Acuna will likely find himself shifting to right field for the 20201 season with the youngster Cristian Pache likely finding himself as the Opening Day center fielder.

Kevin McAlpin has covered the Braves since 2012 for @680TheFan and the @BravesRadioNet.