Gold Glove Award winners were announced for the 2018 season last Sunday night and Baseball Factory is proud to announce that five players who participated in at least one event during their high school career were announced as winners.

Zack Greinke (2000 Team One East)

Greinke adds to his hardware collection with his fifth-consecutive Gold Glove. Since 2014, he leads all pitchers in defensive runs saved with 32. Greinke pitched over 200 innings for the eighth time in his career, finishing with a 15-11 record, 199 strikeouts and made his second-consecutive All-Star appearance in 2018.

Matt Olson (2011 Under Armour All-American)

This is the first Gold Glove for the former All-American, who helped lead the Athletics to 97 wins and a birth in the American League Wild Card game in 2018. Olson led all major league first baseman with 14 defensive runs saved. The 24-year old had a break-through season with the bat, producing 29 homers and 84 RBI (both career-highs) while playing all 162 games in 2018.

Anthony Rizzo (2006 Team One South, 2006 Cape Cod High School All-American)

Rizzo shares the NL Gold Glove with Braves first baseman, Freddie Freeman. This is Rizzo’s second career Gold Glove as he finished second in the NL with 12 defensive runs saved in 2018, one behind 2005 Cape Cod High School All-Star and Factory alum, Brandon Belt. Rizzo hit .283 with 25 home runs and drove in over 100 runs (101) for the fourth-consecutive season.

Ian Kinsler (1999 Team One West)

Kinsler won his first World Series Championship with the Boston Red Sox this season and took home his second-career Gold Glove in the last three seasons. Kinsler was tied with the Rangers’ Rougned Odor for most defensive runs saved by an American League second baseman this past season, recording 10. Kinsler, who was traded down the stretch from the Los Angeles Angels, was a key contributor off the bench for Boston, hitting .308 with two doubles in the team’s divisional-round victory over the New York Yankees.

Nolan Arenado (2007 Ryan Lemmon Sophomore Showcase, 2007 Team One West)

Arenado continues to pile up the hardware as one of the game’s premier (if not the premier) third baseman in the game, with a staggering sixth-consecutive Gold Glove (all in his first six major league seasons). Arenado also continued his dominance with the bat, crushing an NL-leading 38 home runs to go along with 110 RBI, his fourth-consecutive season with 35+ HR’s and over 100 RBI.

Stay tuned next week as MLB Network will announce the Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards finalists. AL and NL Rookie of the Year (November 12th), AL and NL Manager of the Year (November 13th), AL and NL Cy Young (November 14th) and AL and NL MVP on November 15th.

All five Baseball Factory alums got their start at a Factory event. Now it’s your turn to get on the path to greatness. Find an Under Armour Baseball Factory Skills Evaluation and National Tryout by visiting our Events Schedule page and register for an event near you!