As far as balls in play go, the triple is among the most fun, right? They usually showcase a hitter’s athleticism, defender’s scrambling to make a play, and they lead to instant drama. As far as the more typical batted balls go, the triple is pretty great.
Which is not to say they are always typical. Sometimes, you get a triple only because there are some truly atypical circumstances out in the field. Or, in the case of two triples we’ve seen now this past week, you can get a triple on a batted ball that has absolutely no business becoming a triple: a soft bloop to third base and a soft bloop to first base. Both landed ON THE INFIELD.
You had Bryan Reynolds burning the Cubs with perfect placement and heads up baserunning:
Bryan Reynolds just hit a triple.
The ball had an exit velocity of 49.4 mph. pic.twitter.com/ObsoqZ7bJS
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 22, 2022
And then last night you had Mike Trout with an oopsie swing that turned into beauty:
The ball lands on the infield dirt and @MikeTrout turns it into a TRIPLE! pic.twitter.com/AUQLVBiw1c
— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2022
I am going to go out on a limb and say we don’t see another infield blooper that turns into a triple the rest of this season, let alone two in one week.