Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jared Triolo collecting his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award for the 2024 MLB season doesn’t come as a total surprise to those who have been following his climb up the organizational ladder.
“It’s so important to keep in mind that it was his first full season in the big leagues,” Pirates longtime radio and TV play-by-play announcer Greg Brown told The Epoch Times about Triolo’s excellence in fielding. “[Triolo] really had a remarkable season, when you consider all those factors.”
Those factors include Triolo answering manager Derek Shelton’s call to fill in at several positions, and most of the time with little notice. When starting third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes landed on the injured list twice last season, limiting his time in Shelton’s lineup to 96 games due to back issues, Triolo filled in for 63 games. There were also nine games where he covered first base, 48 as the second baseman, nine times in the lineup at shortstop, and even one game in the outfield.
Triolo’s role during the 2024 season—in which he made just three errors—by every definition screamed utility. “Have leather, will shift around the infield” easily could have been the club’s second-round 2019 draft pick’s mantra.
Being recognized as a superior fielder, and not at just one position, but in several as a utility player, for Triolo, the numbers tell the whole story. Unlike the positions recognized for a Gold Glove, where managers and coaches are involved in the decision-making, along with Sabermetric statistical components, the utility decision is settled on differently. There is no voting by those observing from their dugouts during the regular season. Defensive statistics are used exclusively to select the winners.
“I’m thrilled for him,” said Brown of Triolo’s exceptional 2024 season in the field. “He just goes about his business and quietly gets the job done. Regardless of the velocity of the ball off the bat or the spin, ‘Big Tree’ [Triolo’s nickname among teammates] made the plays at third, second, short, and first. I can’t imagine how tough that must be.”
Triolo was limited to 54 games during the 2023 season, when he had his first taste of regular season MLB competition. Even then, it appeared that Shelton was grooming Triolo as the club’s “super-substitute” as he received “tryouts” at first, second, and third base.
When Triolo was drafted, after he had played for three seasons at the University of Houston, he made immediate headway as a professional. During the 2021 minor league season, while assigned to Class-A Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League, Triolo earned his first MiLB Gold Glove on that level. Also that season, Triolo was selected as the Pirates organization’s Bill Mazeroski Defender of the Year. He would also earn this fielding distinction within the organization during 2022.
More fielding notoriety came Triolo’s way during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He was recognized by Baseball America as the Pirates’ best defensive infielder. Winning a Rawlings Gold Glove with Pittsburgh seemed inevitable, when following Triolo’s progression through the club’s minor league affiliates. But as Brown notes, collecting the top utility fielding award so soon in his MLB career has caught even his staunched supporters off-guard.
“To be asked to play all those positions at a high level, all while trying to figure out Major League pitching as a hitter, he really had a remarkable season,” Brown said of Triolo’s rookie season.
When the finalists were announced on Oct. 15 for the 2024 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, Triolo began the waiting game. Nearly three weeks later, on Nov. 3, on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight TV program, Triolo was awarded the top utility National League honors. During a Zoom conference with media members shortly after learning of his capturing the Rawlings Gold Glove, Triolo was quick to give thanks to those who have helped him reach fielding superiority.
“It started back in spring training. My teammates were a great help, and my coaches hit me a lot of ground balls. DK [bench/infield coach Don Kelly] and Mendy Lopez [infield coach] were always there. I’m the kind of guy that likes to take a lot of reps before each game. When I won [the Rawlings Gold Glove], I received texts from Ke'Bryan Hayes and IKF [Pirates shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa]. Both those guys have won Gold Gloves before,” he said.
Perhaps Brown best sums up Triolo’s contribution to the Pittsburgh 2024 efforts in which the club finished 76–86 for the second consecutive season.
“Triolo is an outstanding defender anywhere Derek Shelton put him in. He always seems to give the Pirates a quality at-bat, too,” Brown said.
