Anthony Rendon again a Gold Glove finalist

For the third straight year, Anthony Rendon is a finalist for a Gold Glove Award. Now the Nationals third baseman can only hope he doesn't lose out to Nolan Arenado for the third straight year.

Rendon was revealed today as one of the top three vote-getters among National League third basemen, joining the Rockies' Arenado and the Brewers' Travis Shaw. The winner will be revealed on Nov. 4.

Voting among NL managers and coaches took place in late September. A sabermetic component provided by the Society for American Baseball Research also was included in the process, accounting for 25 percent of the final tally.

Rendon has firmly established himself as one of the league's best third basemen over the years, as evidenced by his placement in the top three in Gold Glove voting each of the last three seasons. But he has been unable to date to surpass Arenado, the perennial All-Star from Colorado who has won the award five consecutive years now.

Rendon has a strong case to unseat the reigning champ this season, but it's a close call between the two. Arenado narrowly beat out Rendon in FanGraphs' overall defensive metric, 8.1 to 7.9, though Rendon narrowly topped Arenado in Ultimate Zone Rating, 5.9 to 5.8.

Rendon surprisingly rated poorly in Defensive Runs Saved, with a -6 rating. Shaw led the NL with a +9 rating, with Johan Camargo (+7), Evan Longoria (+7), Jedd Gyorko (+6) and Matt Carpenter (+6) also ahead of Arenado (+5).

Rendon had the highest fielding percentage (.981) among qualified third basemen and committed only six errors compared to Arenado's 14 and Shaw's 10.

No other Nationals finished in the top three at their positions this season, so Rendon is the club's only hope to win. Ryan Zimmerman (2009) and Adam LaRoche (2012) are the only Nats players ever to win Gold Glove Awards.