Squirrels' Schmitt named Rawlings Gold Glove Award® winner

RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond Flying Squirrels third baseman Casey Schmitt has been named the Minor League third baseman recipient of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® for defensive excellence, Minor League Baseball™ and Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., announced on Tuesday.

The winners at each position were selected from players in the 11 full-season Minor Leagues. Schmitt and the other players will receive their own Rawlings Gold Glove Award, modeled after the iconic award given to Major League Baseball’s top defensive players, during the 2023 season.

Schmitt was promoted to Double-A Richmond on August 9 and played 29 regular-season games for the Flying Squirrels this season, all at third base. He began the season with the High-A Eugene Emeralds and was promoted to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats for four games following Richmond’s postseason run.

With Richmond, Schmitt was charged with just two errors in 57 total chances for a .965 fielding percentage. He also collected 37 assists and 18 putouts. For the year at three levels, Schmitt held a .941 fielding percentage.

A native of San Diego, Calif., Schmitt was selected in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants out of San Diego State University. He was also named a 2022 Northwest League Post-Season All-Star for his performance with Eugene this year.

“We’d like to congratulate the 2022 Minor League recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® as this group of defensive standouts were deemed ‘The Finest in the Field’,” said Mike Thompson, chief marketing officer for Rawlings. “Rawlings values our long-standing partnership with Minor League Baseball and our shared focus on growing the game of baseball while emphasizing defensive excellence.”

“We are pleased to recognize these nine players with a Rawlings Gold Glove Award for their defensive excellence in 2022,” said Peter Woodfork, Major League Baseball’s Senior Vice President, Minor League Operations and Development. “On behalf of Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and our great partners at Rawlings, I congratulate each of the winners for their outstanding seasons.”

The 2022 Minor League Baseball recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® are as follows:

1B: Joe Naranjo (Lake County – Cleveland)

2B: Jesus Bastidas (Somerset – New York AL)

SS: Carson Williams (Charleston – Tampa Bay)

3B: Casey Schmitt (Eugene/Richmond/Sacramento – San Francisco)

OF: Evan Carter (Hickory – Texas)

OF: Jackson Chourio (Carolina – Milwaukee)

OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong (Myrtle Beach/South Bend – Chicago NL)

C: Patrick Bailey (Eugene – San Francisco)

P: Reese Olson (Erie – Detroit)

The Flying Squirrels open the 2023 season at The Diamond on Friday, April 7 against the Reading Fightin Phils. Promotions and other information for the 2023 season will be announced at a later date. For more information, visit SquirrelsBaseball.com.