MLB Defensive Player of the Year 2019 Awards: AL and NL Winners and Reaction

On the heels of Major League Baseball announcing the 2019 Gold Glove winners, Cleveland Indians catcher Roberto Perez capped off a season of defensive excellence by being named the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year.

The American League champion Houston Astros were honored with the Defensive Team of the Year award for the first time. 

Here are all the winners that are determined from a formula that includes traditional and advanced defensive metrics, via MLB.com. 

2019 MLB Defensive Player of the Year Winners

Catcher: Roberto Perez, Cleveland Indians

First Base: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves

Second Base: Kolten Wong, St. Louis Cardinals

Third Base: Matt Chapman, Oakland Athletics

Shortstop: Andrelton Simmons, Los Angeles Angels

Right Field: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

Center Field: Lorenzo Cain, Milwaukee Brewers

Left Field: David Peralta, Arizona Diamondbacks

Pitcher: Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks/Houston Astros

Team: Houston Astros 

Player: Roberto Perez, Cleveland Indians

Perez was given the Indians' full-time starting job last offseason when Yan Gomes was traded to the Washington Nationals. The Puerto Rican star responded with the best year of his career on both sides of the ball, hitting more homers in 2019 (24) than he did in the previous five seasons combined (21). 

But it was on defense where Perez really made a name for himself. He threw out 41 percent of runners trying to steal a base, led all MLB players with 29 defensive runs saved, ranked fourth in overall defensive value and was as reliable as any backstop in the game at keeping the ball in front of him. 

On the team side, the Astros ranked second in fielding percentage (98.8), third in out-of-zone plays (651), fourth in defensive runs saved (90) and fifth in remote-possibility percentage plays (5.8 percent). 

Among Houston's 18 regular position players, excluding catchers, 11 had positive Ultimate Zone Ratings per 150 games played, led by George Springer at 22.9. 

Two of the most notable differences between the Gold Glove and Defensive Player of the Year recipients were at first base and shortstop. 

Freddie Freeman, a repeat winner in this category, wasn't even a finalist for the NL Gold Glove at first base. Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs beat out Christian Walker of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals. 

Advanced numbers were kind to Freeman, who ranked fourth among all first baseman with five defensive runs saved and led all players at the position in unlikely plays made percentage (42.9), per the FanGraphs Inside Edge metric.

Simmons may have been hurt in Gold Glove voting by virtue of missing 59 games due to injuries. That award was given to Cleveland Indians star Francisco Lindor.

On merit and performance, though, the Los Angeles Angels shortstop remains the standard for all defensive players at the position. Simmons led all MLB shortstops with a 13.8 Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games played and was tied for fourth with 14 defensive runs saved, despite playing nearly 250 fewer innings than any of the players ahead of him. 

Staying on the left side of the diamond, Matt Chapman remains a vacuum at third base for the Oakland Athletics. The 26-year-old, who won the Overall Defensive Player of the Year award last year, took home the top prize at the hot corner for the second consecutive season. 

Sports Info Solutions, which named Chapman the Fielding Bible Award winner at third base, summed up the things that make him such a special defender in MLB:

Out of the 11 total Defensive Player of the Year and overall Team of the Year winners, seven of them were in the postseason. Even in a season defined by home runs and strikeouts, the ability to make plays in the field remained such an important ingredient to success. 

This wraps up MLB's annual defensive awards for 2019, but there is still much more hardware to be handed out. Next week will feature the unveiling of all of the major individual awards, including Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player.