Texas Rangers: Gallo and Kiner-Falefa officially honored as “Golden Boys”

Prior to last night’s thrilling 8-6 win over the ever-pesky Boston Red Sox, the Texas Rangers took some time to honor two award winners from last year’s season.

Joey Gallo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa – both recipients of Gold Gloves due to their elite defensive production during the shortened 2020 campaign.

The pair of fan-favorites got their beautifully golden trophies delivered to them in front of the Rangers faithful, with the team dubbing them “The Golden Boys”:

The Texas Rangers finally got to see their Gold Glovers awarded last night.

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Regardless if you feel awards won during the 2020 season deserve an asterisk or not, the defensive level at which both Gallo and Kiner-Falefa played at last year definitely deserves some recognition. They were two bright (golden?) spots on a rather uncompetitive Texas squad, and their consistent level of play on the defensive side of the ball was rightfully noted by the rest of the league.

Joey Gallo, RF

Looking first at Joey Gallo and the season he had in right field, I think it’s pretty safe to say that no-one really expected the veteran outfielder to be in the conversation for a full-on Gold Glove by season’s end.

While he’s always been rather serviceable in the outfield, he’s never particularly reached that “elite” tier defensive status that typically comes with winning hardware.

However, Gallo showed up and put in some seriously impressive defensive play over the course of 57 games. He finished the year leading all outfielders with 12 defensive runs saved, and actually had the second highest DRS total in all of baseball (only Nolan Arenado had more last season).

Albeit overshadowed by his bat at times, Gallo’s defensive performance in 2020 was by far the best of his career – well worth the Gold.