Cubs second baseman Barney wins Gold Glove
It’s not easy unseating an incumbent in the Gold Glove voting, but Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney did so Tuesday night, beating out the Reds’ Brandon Phillips.
Barney also beat finalist Aaron Hill of Arizona to win his first Rawlings Gold Glove and the first by a Cub since Derrek Lee won at first base in 2007. Barney is the first Cubs second baseman to get a Gold Glove since Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg in 1991.
“I’m extremely thrilled,” Barney said. “It was something I came into the season working toward. It’s not something I was looking at the results being there as quickly as they were. It’s an exciting night for me.”
Managers and coaches voted for the Gold Glove. Barney led all major-league second basemen with a .997 fielding percentage and had 2 errors in 731 chances. He tied a major-league record with 141 consecutive errorless games at second base. He also had more total chances per 9 innings (5.18) at second than any player in the major leagues.
“You never expect to pass a guy like Brandon Phillips,” Barney said. “He’s exceptional at what he does. He was the best in the game for a long time. I can’t sit here and say I’m better than him. I think either of us could have won it. Fortunately for me, I did.”
Barney, who turns 27 on Nov. 8, completed his second full season in the big leagues this year.
Prospect hurt:Cubs prospect Javier Baez likely is done for the rest of the Arizona Fall League season after injuring his left thumb last Saturday. Baez, 19, was the Cubs#146; first-round draft pick in 2011. The Cubs were waiting to see if he suffered a fracture of the tip of the thumb. In 14 Fall League games, Baez was hitting .211 with 4 homers. Cubs name coordinator:The Cubs named Derek Johnson minor-league pitching coordinator. Johnson, 41, comes from Vanderbilt University, where he spent the last 11 seasons as the school#146;s pitching coach, including the last three as the school#146;s associate head coach/pitching coach. He earned national pitching coach of the year honors in 2004 and national assistant coach of the year honors in 2010.