Third Baseman Manny Machado makes a catch in deep RIGHT field

On the foul line, no less!

An amazing play, not just for the sheer speed and anticipation involved, but also for his field sense in knowing that the right fielder couldn’t quite get to the ball, and then his body control in managing to avoid a collision with him.

And he made it look routine!

6 thoughts on “Third Baseman Manny Machado makes a catch in deep RIGHT field

  1. But on the other, we’re probably seeing less great individual infield plays because so many balls are getting hit into a crowd. I want to see as many great Lindors as I can before he ends up in pinstripes.
    Agreeing on the no jetpacks (LOL).

    1. Another contributing factor there (fewer infield plays) is the emphasis on launch angle. Hitting hard ground balls isn’t a thing now. Fly out and strike out ratios increase steadily, while the number of ground ball outs is ever diminishing.

      On this topic, here is a baseball anomaly: the number of GIDP has not really changed since they started keeping track of it in 1939. It has been almost a constant at .75 per team per game. One wonders how that can be. There are fewer base runners now because OBP has dropped. There are fewer ground ball outs now because strikeouts have steadily and dramatically increased from 3.5 per team/game to 9. And yet the number of ground ball double plays is unchanged. ‘Tis a mystery.

  2. I totally agree. This talk should remain just talk. Being good at fielding isn’t taking unfair advantage. I draw the line at jetpacks, though.

  3. There has been talk of major league baseball banning extreme shifting because it is so effective at suppressing offense. They could for instance require 2 infielders start out on each side of second base as the ball is pitched. That seems like a more reasonable rule than a pitch clock or starting out extra innings with a runner on second, but I still don’t like it. I would rather hitters adapted and started taking advantage of the shifts by learning to go the other way, even if they have to bunt. But it seems most of the power hitters today are unwilling (or unable) to do so.

    1. Maybe give a team a certain number of shifts allowed per game, but not every pitch, every at bat. I’m long since tired of a steady diet of the Three True Results alternating with balls being hit well but right into a shift.
      As for going the other way I get the feeling that you simply can’t do that as well with this extreme spin rate stuff out there now (unless you’re Ichiro). And with the universal DH, you know there are going to be fewer hitters being really taught how to bunt.

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