Jackie Bradley Jr. long has been considered one of the best defensive outfielders in all of baseball, but Major League Baseball’s most prestigious fielding award somehow continued to evade the Boston Red Sox center fielder.
That was until Sunday when Bradley was honored with his first career Gold Glove Award, just a week after the Red Sox finished off the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2018 World Series.
The Gold Glove recognition was long overdue for Bradley, who described his emotions to ESPN’s Karl Ravech after taking home the hardware.
“It means a whole lot, Bradley said. “I’m a player who definitely takes a lot of pride in my defense and being able to help the team on both sides of the ball. Have a lot of great center fielders that I’m in competition with, and it’s an honor to even be mentioned in the same name as those guys. So it’s pretty unique and I’m excited.”
Bradley wasn’t the only Red Sox player to win a Gold Glove for their defensive efforts in the 2018 season, as Mookie Betts and Ian Kinsler obtained the honor for right field and second base in the American League, respectively.
