Pirates History: Recalling Pittsburgh's most unlikely Gold Glove recipient ever

MLB recently announced this year's Gold Glove finalists, with two Pittsburgh Pirates being nominated: utility man Jared Triolo and left fielder Tommy Pham, a strange showing from a team that's harbored elite defense in the past.

When you think of the best defensive outfielders in the Pirates' history, legends like Roberto Clemente and Barry Bonds may come to mind, or a more modern player like Starling Marte. However, one player you'd never think of is Corey Dickerson. Dickerson appeared in parts of two seasons with the Bucs in 2018 and 2019, winning a Gold Glove in his first year. He is the last Pirates outfielder to take home the award, and it came in arguably the most unlikely fashion of any Pittsburgh winner.

It's not as if Dickerson didn't deserve a Gold Glove this season. He logged 1057.1 innings in left field, where he had +16 defensive runs saved, a +11.9 UZR/150, and +8 outs above average. Dickerson was undoubtedly one of the best outfield defenders in the game that season. Among all outfielders in 2018, he had the sixth-most DRS (third-most in NL) and the 16th-most OAA (ninth-most in NL). Only eight players (Dickerson among them) spent at least 800 innings in the outfield while also posting a UZR/150 of +10 or greater. He also led the league in total zone runs at +16.

However, what makes it strange is how good Dickerson was when it came to defense ... for just that one season. Dickerson had appeared in the previous five MLB seasons, putting up just -7 DRS, -3 OAA, and -0.8 UZR/150 over 3,035 innings with the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays. His defensive work was slightly better with the Rays than with the Rockies, which is to be expected given the sort of parks each team plays their home games in, but he also split his time at designated hitter in Tampa Bay, showing the Rays weren't confident in his glove work enough to start him regularly in left field.

Former Pirates OF Corey Dickerson is one of the most unlikely Gold Glove winners in the sport's history.

The defense Dickerson flashed in 2018 never stuck, either. Dickerson would appear in five more seasons after 2018, returning much closer to the norm after his anomalous season. He had -15 DRS, with a -5.6 UZR/150 and -1 OAA, over his next 2,321.1 innings with the Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Washington Nationals. He last appeared in 2023, and formally retired in January of 2025.

His 2018 campaign also stands out as one of the best defensive seasons in Pirates history. There have only been 18 Pirates players since integration in 1947 to rack up +15 or more fielding runs. The aforementioned Clemente, Bonds, and Marte are on that list, along with Hall of Famers Bill Mazeroski and Dave Parker, and more recent names like Ke'Bryan Hayes, Josh Harrison, Jacob Stallings, and Jack Wilson. Then there's Dickerson, whose +16 fielding runs are the 31st-most by any Pirates player since 1947. 

Dickerson's 2018 season stands out as one of the strangest Gold Glove-winning campaigns in recent baseball history. He was a very deserving candidate for the award, but it was the only season in which he was ever even an average defender. He is one of, if not the most, unlikely winners of the award since it was first handed out.