Roccaforte Earns 2026 Minor League Rawlings Gold Glove Award®

Omaha outfielder goes errorless in 129 Minor League games, becomes fifth Omaha Gold Glove winner

(Madison Giltner)

By Omaha Storm Chasers

November 2, 2026

PAPILLION, NEB. – Omaha Storm Chasers outfielder Carson Roccaforte has been named a 2026 Minor League recipient of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® in the outfield, Minor League Baseball and Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. announced Monday. Roccaforte, who started 27 games in center field for Omaha following his mid-August

PAPILLION, NEB. – Omaha Storm Chasers outfielder Carson Roccaforte has been named a 2026 Minor League recipient of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® in the outfield, Minor League Baseball and Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. announced Monday.

Roccaforte, who started 27 games in center field for Omaha following his mid-August promotion to Triple-A, did not commit an error in 129 games between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha in 2026, the most errorless games by any Minor Leaguer since 2017. He led all Minor League outfielders with 320 putouts and 333 total chances, adding 13 outfield assists over 1,106.0 innings for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, the only one among the eight position players to earn a Minor League Rawlings Gold Glove Award® this year. Roccaforte’s 1,105.0 innings in center field, where he made all 128 of his outfield starts, are the most at a single position in an errorless Minor League season since at least 2005, and his 333 total chances are the most by an outfielder in an errorless season over that span.

The 24-year-old is the fifth player in Triple-A Omaha franchise history to be named a Minor League recipient of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award®, joining Luis Alcaraz (2B, 1969), Rudy Kinard (SS, 1978), Derrick Robinson (OF, 2012) and Nick Pratto (1B, 2021). Selected by Kansas City in Competitive Balance Round B (66th overall) of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Louisiana-Lafayette, MLB Pipeline’s No. 17 Royals prospect has been named Kansas City’s Frank White Defensive Player of the Year (the top defensive player in the Royals organization) each of the last three seasons (2024-26).

Roccaforte’s errorless season extended a streak dating to July 8, 2025, with High-A Quad Cities, to 179 consecutive games in the outfield, the third-longest active streak among Minor League outfielders behind Bryce Johnson (207) and Jared Oliva (205). Over that span, he has handled 491 consecutive chances cleanly, more than either Johnson or Oliva.

The Port Neches, Texas native also produced the first 30/30 season ever by a Royals Minor Leaguer, hitting 35 home runs with 32 stolen bases, just the 28th 30/30 season in the Minors since 1948 and the first Minor League Rawlings Gold Glove Award® winner with a 30/30 season since the award was re-established in 2011. Across 138 games, the left-hander slashed .257/.338/.519 (139-for-540) with 96 RBI, and his 35 home runs and 280 total bases led all Royals Minor Leaguers.

The winners at each position were selected from players in the 11 full-season Minor Leagues. Each player will receive his own Rawlings Gold Glove Award, modeled after the award given to Major League Baseball’s top defensive players, during the 2027 season. Roccaforte is the fifth Royals Minor Leaguer to earn the honor since 2011, following Robinson (2012), Pratto and Michael Massey (both 2021) and Frank Mozzicato (2024).

The full list of 2026 Minor League Rawlings Gold Glove Award® winners is as follows:

C – Caden Bodine (TB)
1B – Josiah Hartshorn (CHC)
2B – Max Anderson (DET)
3B – Ethan Hedges (COL)
SS – Franklin Arias (BOS)
OF – Carlos Jorge (CIN)
OF – Druw Jones (AZ)
OF – Carson Roccaforte (KC)
P – Cade Smith (NYY)