There actually didn’t seem to be a lot of outstanding defense from this week – but here’s the best of what we have.
May 30th, Pirates vs Dodgers – Dee Gordon turns two.
Dee Gordon began this double play in pretty spectacular fashion, diving to make the stop and managing to flip/roll the ball over to Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez fired over to first to finish the play, but the slick moves from Gordon were the real highlight of this one.
May 31st, Angels vs Athletics – double your pleasure.
In the second inning of this Angels-Athletics game, Yoenis Cespedes threw a runner out at home plate – twice. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I know the Angels really wanted runs here, but they pressed their luck twice – and failed miserably each time.
May 31st, Rays vs Red Sox – shift? What shift?
Sean Rodriguez, positioned to the left of second base, covered an unreal amount of ground to make this play on a slow runner hit by Jonny Gomes. This was just a phenomenal play that would have looked routine if a shift wasn’t in place.
June 1st, Twins vs Yankees – Dozier does it all himself.
Brian Dozier’s efforts on this 4-3 double play were unreal. First, he makes a nice stop of Ichiro’s grounder. Then, his momentum forces him to slide into second base and tag it with his glove. Finally, he fires over to first to get Ichiro out. That’s some skill.
June 1st, Pirates vs Dodgers – his name is Andrew McCutchen.
This was just a great all-around play by McCutchen. He ran what seemed like half a mile from center to get to the ball, laid out, and snagged it a split second before the ball hit the ground. Great job, great effort.
June 2nd, Mets vs Phillies – Matt den Dekker is well-rounded.
In the second inning, Matt den Dekker robbed Ryan Howard of a home run. In the third inning, he threw Reid Brignac out at the plate by a good 15 feet. Maybe this wasn’t as cool of a sequence as Cespedes throwing two runners out at the plate in the same inning, but it’s pretty wild nevertheless.
