MLB.com predicts Isaac Collins to win major award in 2025, but not the one you think

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Isaac Collins has had a rookie year to remember in 2025.

In many ways, Collins is the ultimate baseball underdog. He was the Colorado Rockies' ninth-round pick back in the 2019 MLB Draft, but was cast aside by the organization and selected in the minor league portion of the 2022 Rule 5 Draft by the Brewers.

Collins was never on any top prospect lists and he never set the world on fire with his numbers in the minor leagues. He was just quietly productive and slowly earned his way to the big leagues.

His MLB debut didn't come until September of 2024 when he was 27 years old. A season later, Collins was far from a guarantee to make the 2025 Opening Day roster. He had to earn his place on the Brewers, and when he did, it was initially as an outfield depth piece. In fact, during the month of April, Collins was awarded just 36 plate appearances.

Injuries to Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins freed up some at-bats in the outfield, and Collins used those opportunities to prove that he deserved to be a mainstay in Milwaukee’s lineup. Everything since has been a welcomed, albeit unexpected, surprise.

Collins was named National League Rookie of the Month for July after hitting .321/.395/.458. He then won NL Player of the Week in early August after a hot stretch that included his first walk-off home run, which came off of two-time All-Star closer Edwin Díaz of the New York Mets.

With nine (9) home runs, 54 RBI, 16 stolen bases, and an OPS of .789, Collins has put himself squarely in the conversation for NL Rookie of the Year. But recently, MLB.com predicted him to win a completely different award.

Isaac Collins predicted to win NL Gold Glove Award

Jared Greenspan and Jason Foster of MLB.com recently released a list of the predicted winners for every Gold Glove Award in Major League Baseball. Collins was the predicted winner for left field in the National League.

Collins is an under-the-radar pick for the coveted defensive honor. While he's not the flashiest defender, with relatively average speed and arm strength, there's one thing that Collins does really well in the outfield. He gets really good jumps.

When we say "jumps" we aren't talking about Collins leaping up and grabbing balls that are headed over the fence, but rather the term "jumps" refers to how a player responds when a ball is hit their way. It involves having a quick, and accurate, first step which allows the defender to reach fly balls or line drives that defenders who get worse "jumps" wouldn't be able to get to.

Another way to think about it is that Collins has one of the best "ranges" in all of baseball, meaning the ground that he covers in the outfield is larger than that of most other outfielders. He consistently gets to balls in the left-center gap or down the left field line that other defenders couldn't even dream of catching.

As a result, Collins grades out very well in the leading defensive metric that aims to measure range: Outs Above Average (OAA). Collins leads all National League left fielders with 5 OAA this season. Interestingly enough, Collins accumulated -2 OAA during his eight games in right field this year, so his overall OAA numbers for 2025 look worse than his left-field specific mark.

While Collins is setting the pace for OAA in left field in the National League, he shockingly grades out poorly in another popular defensive metric: Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). DRS takes into account more aspects of fielding such as arm strength and errors. Collins currently has just 1 DRS in left field, and -1 DRS on the season, which includes his time spent in right field.

However, since range is the main determinant of an outfielder's defensive effectiveness, OAA is generally preferred when determining the best outfielders, whereas DRS is better for grading infielders. As such, since Collins leads all NL left fielders in OAA, predicting that he will take home the Gold Glove this year is certainly not far-fetched.

Up to this point, 18 rookies in MLB history have been recognized with the honor of a Gold Glove. Collins could easily make it 19 at the end of the season.