Yankees Gold Glove finalists: Soto, Verdugo and Volpe

The Gold Glove finalists were announced Tuesday and the Yankees had three players among them. Two are no surprise, one is rather mediocre.

Anthony Volpe, who narrowly won the AL Gold Glove last season, is a finalist again, along with Brayan Rocchio of the Guardians and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals.

Alex Verdugo, who did not take his issues at the plate with him to the field, is a finalist in left field, along with Colton Cowser of the Orioles and Steven Kwan of the Guardians.

The surprise?

Juan Soto, long known for his bat but arriving in the Bronx last winter with questions about his defense, made the final three in right along with Wilyer Abreu of the Red Sox and Jo Adell of the Angels.

“I'm not surprised because I'm voting on it,” Aaron Boone said of Soto's selection before Game 2 of the ALCS on Tuesday night against the Guardians. “We can't vote for your own people, but you get this (information about the vote) two, three weeks ago, it lands on your desk and they give you numbers there for reference. And he (Soto), I noticed, was at the top of his game in a lot of areas in right field.”

One area where Soto particularly excelled was assists with 10, including the memorable throw to the game-winning runner at the plate in the ninth inning of the Yankees' season-opening win over the Astros in Houston.

Boone admitted that Soto had “probably” exceeded his expectations on defense, but that he had also heard before the outfielder's arrival for spring training that he was “concerned” about that side of the ball.

“So if you get a young, athletic guy that cares about being out there, they have a chance to be good,” Boone said, pointing to the Houston game and also Game 1 of the ALDS when He threw out the Royals Salvador Perez at the plate. “He had a few games there where he had a hard time hitting the ball against the wall, but he also made a lot of plays there.”

To determine the winners in the nine spots, according to MLB.com, all 30 major league managers and up to six coaches from their respective teams vote from a pool of players from their league, which, as Boone mentioned, excludes players from their own league own team. These votes make up 75% of the total selection, with the SABR Defensive Index accounting for the remaining 25%.

Verdugo, on the other hand, has started every postseason game so far, including Tuesday night, based solely on his defense. For that reason, and that reason alone, the Yankees went with him over prospect Jasson Dominguez in left field.

“The second half was a struggle for him offensively, but one thing that has never left him is the glove,” Boone said of Verdugo. “It’s a big deal in our stadium here in left field.”

Elite company for Stanton

Giancarlo Stanton's home run in Game 1 of the ALCS gave him 13 home runs in 32 playoff games. He became only the third player in MLB history to hit at least that many home runs in the first 32 postseason games of his career. The others are Carlos Beltran (14) and Nelson Cruz (14). Those 13 home runs tied Stanton for fifth-most in franchise history, tied with Aaron Judge. Bernie Williams is the franchise leader with 22, followed by Derek Jeter (20), Mickey Mantle (18) and Babe Ruth (15). Of course, the latter two didn't have nearly as many rounds to reach that total, as their blasts came exclusively in the World Series.