NEWSLETTER
Before the day slips away into Game Two, I wanted to make sure to give a little love to a couple great defensive plays last night. You won’t throw too many shutouts without them.
Kris Bryant continues to be underrated defensively at third base, and, although he’s probably rightly not up there with the defensive elite, he is among the best at coming in on dribblers to his right. Look not only at the way he executed this fantastic barehanded play, but also consider the body positioning and planning that had to take place in an instant for him to get himself in the right position to grab the ball at the right time, balanced and ready to throw (@Cubs):
Killer Barehand. #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/xqAu4QEuMI
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 7, 2017
That’s just a fantastic play at a moment when every out was critical.
And then you had Javy Baez doing what he does – making a tough play look routine (@Cubs):
81% hit probability.
Enter @javy23baez. pic.twitter.com/fCDRKSuPYB
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 7, 2017
Based on the angle and exit velocity, that’s a base hit 81% of the time. And sure enough, off the bat, that’s exactly what it looked like – a perfectly-placed dump into right center. But thanks to great positioning and quick reactions, Baez caught it with relative ease.
