Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried won his second straight Gold Glove Award, given to the best defensive player at each position in each league.
The Jewish star's award was announced on Sunday, five days after he pitched his Braves to their first World Series championship in 26 years.
1 View gallery
Max Fried fields the ball during Game 1 of the 2021 NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, in Atlanta, Georgia
(Photo: Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The 27-year-old left-hander beat out fellow finalists Zach Davies of the Chicago Cubs and Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Since becoming a full-time starter in 2019, Fried leads all big-league pitchers with 16 defensive runs saved (DRS), a metric that measures the number of runs a player saves or costs his team compared to an average player, leading all the National League (NL) with 6 DRS in 2021.
Fried has also gained a reputation for his strong pickoff move, ranking second in the NL with six in 2021.
He joins Atlanta Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Phil Niekro as the only Braves pitchers to win multiple Gold Glove Awards. Maddux is the all-time MLB Gold Glove leader with 18, including 10 consecutive wins as a member of the Braves.
Fried's teammate Adam Duvall also won the award, recognized as the NL's top right fielder.
He played just 11 games at the position after being acquired by the Braves on July 30, but he played 66 games there with the Miami Marlins before being traded.