SAN FRANCISCO -- In the middle of August, Patrick Bailey laughed and nodded one afternoon when he was asked if he knew how many games he had to play as a rookie to qualify for a Gold Glove Award. Along with Giants catching coach Craig Albernaz, Bailey quietly had been tracking his progress toward eligibility for weeks.
Two months later, Bailey now has a very real shot to win the award and become the first rookie catcher in nearly three decades to be recognized as the NL's best defender.
Bailey was named a finalist for the NL Gold Glove Award at catcher on Wednesday, along with Arizona's Gabriel Moreno and Philadelphia's J.T. Realmuto. He was the only Giant to be nominated this season, with second baseman Thairo Estrada being a notable snub.
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Bailey, the organization's first-round draft pick in 2020, was called up on May 19 and made an immediate impact behind the plate. Within a few weeks it had become clear that he already was one of the league's best defensive catchers, and by the end of the year he ranked at or near the top of the league in just about every advanced metric despite starting only 84 games.
Bailey led all MLB catchers in strike rate and catcher framing runs, per Statcast. At 16 catcher framing runs, he was well ahead of second-ranked Austin Hedges (10) and was the only NL catcher in double digits. Bailey ranked second in the NL in average pop time and Defensive Runs Saved, and he threw out 25 runners. He ranked second to Moreno, another finalist, in Baseball Savant's metric that measures caught stealings against expectation.
Bailey was such a force behind the plate that the Giants often brought him in to help close out games, and he twice ended wins with his arm. He was the first Giants catcher to record the final out of multiple games since 1979, and the first MLB rookie to do it since 2007.
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If he beats out Moreno and Realmuto, Bailey will become the fifth rookie catcher to win a Gold Glove and the first since Miami's Charles Johnson in 1995. Other than Johnson, Carlton Fisk (1972) and Johnny Bench (1968) are the only NL catchers who have ever won a Gold Glove as a rookie.
"It would be incredible," Bailey said on "Giants Talk" last month. "That's kind of, I guess, what I've been known for and something I take the most pride in. Whether it's this year, which would be really cool -- I don't think many other rookie catchers have done it -- but whether it's this year or the next, it would probably be one of the things I'm most proud of."
Estrada seemed to have a strong shot after a remarkable year-over-year turnaround. He was worth zero Outs Above Average in 2022 but led all MLB second basemen in 2023 with 20 OAA. Estrada also led all MLB second basemen in FanGraphs' all-encompassing defensive metric.
The finalists at second base were San Diego's Ha-Seong Kim, Chicago's Nico Hoerner and Philadelphia's Bryson Stott. Mauricio Dubon, who was traded in part because of Estrada's development, is a finalist in the American League.