Photo: Doug Gray
When the Cincinnati Reds acquired infielder Ke’Bryan Hayes at the traded deadline this year one of the big selling points was his defense. The Reds were looking to improve their defense at the hot corner and Hayes was arguably one of the best defensive players in baseball. While he misplayed a ball in his first game with the club, that was easy to forget after seeing what he was able to do the rest of the way as it more than backed up the idea that he was an elite defensive player.
On Thursday afternoon Sports Info Solutions released the 2025 Fielding Bible Awards. Unlike the Gold Glove Award, these are awarded to one player in MLB per position, not one per league. Twenty people voted and each person gave a vote for the top five players, ranking them 1-5. At third base it was nearly a clean sweep for Ke’Bryan Hayes. He got 19 of the 20 first place votes, with only Joe Sheehan not awarding him the top spot in his vote and instead having him second to Maikel Garcia (who finished a distant, but very clear second overall).
For Hayes it was the third time that he’s been named the best third baseman in his career by Sports Info Solutions in their Fielding Bible Awards. He also took home the top spot in 2021 and 2023. He’s only the second Cincinnati Red to win the award. Brandon Phillips also won the award.
Hayes is also a finalist for the Gold Glove at third base in the National League. Those will be announced on Sunday, November 2nd.
Cincinnati had one other player get votes. Spencer Steer finished third among the players at first base. All 20 of the voters listed him in their top five, but no one placed him higher than third. He finished behind Matt Olson (who got all of the first place votes) and Carlos Santana.
About The Author
