Barnhart feels like he overachieved in winning second Gold Glove

Barnhart beat National League finalists Wilson Contreras, of the Chicago Cubs, and Jacob Stallings, of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“Winning the first one in ’17 was like a dream come true,” Barnhart said, “and then you just kind of set out to not make that become the one and only. Obviously, there was a couple couple years in between that I didn’t have as good a defensive year as I would have liked. To win it this year when it is strictly based on numbers and there’s really no arguing it, it means everything. To be a multiple Gold Glove winner at this point my career is really, really cool. I feel like I’ve overachieved in a way. Hopefully this isn’t the end and I can win a couple more.”

With the season shortened to 60 games and teams playing only within their division or against teams from the geographic division in the other league, the Gold Glove winners were chosen solely based on the SABR Defensive Index (SDI) this year. In the past, the award was based on the SDI and the vote of managers and coaches.

Barnhart led the National League in the SDI after ranking eighth the last two years. He ranked second in 2017, slightly behind Austin Hedges, of the San Diego Padres, but won the Gold Glove over finalists Buster Posey, of the San Francisco Giants, and Yadier Molina, of the St. Louis Cardinals.

This was Barnhart’s seventh season with the Reds. He debuted in 2014. He started 33 of 60 games in 2020 and threw out eight of 22 runners stealing bases.

Barnhart, 29, said his improvement in 2020 came about because he was more aware of his numbers from an analytical standpoint and set out to get better at them. He credited J.R. House, the Reds third-base and catching coach, for helping him become the best defensive player he could be.

Barnhart didn’t do anything different in blocking the plate, he said, and made a couple tweaks to his throwing motion. The biggest changes he made came in how he framed pitches.

“The number I always pay attention to now during the season is my framing number,” Barnhart said. “There’s a main number that we all pay attention to. For the most part, that one number is SL Plus. SL Plus is strikes looking above average. You always strive to be above 100. If you’re above 100, you’re above average. I paid attention to that from the first pitch to the last pitch of the season."