We only have a couple more weeks of baseball left. Playoff races are ramping up, and things are getting serious. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, though, because we sure had fun on Tuesday. Let’s check out all the fun things from Tuesday!
Fernando Tatís Jr., Acrobat
Fernando Tatís Jr. is the National League MVP front runner and might be the most exciting player in baseball. We’ve seen him hit long homers, make crazy jumping catches, and, of course, swing 3-0. But we saw something new from him on Tuesday. Something that might be just as impressive as everything else.
On a 1-2 count, Chi Chi Gonzalez threw a 93 mph fastball up and in. Tatís took it, and looked extremely athletic doing it:
noted magician Fernando Tatis Jr. pic.twitter.com/Ckh8pV6gSg
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 9, 2020
Let’s take a closer look:
Uh, what? The fact that he was able to bend over that far is one thing. But the even crazier thing is that he got up from that position without needing to catch his balance. He went right to a standing position from there. And he acted like it was nothing! This guy can do everything.
Padres’ Booth Back At It
If you’ll remember, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Padres’ announcers dancing in the booth. Well, on Tuesday, they gave us an encore.
The Padres are having fun this season. Between Tatís Jr. and “Slam Diego,” they are one of the most exciting teams in baseball. That seems to be rubbing off on their announcers, Don Orsillo and Mark Grant.
These two>>>>>
Come on down to Slam Diego, where there's nothing but fun wherever you look 🕺@DonOrsillo | @Mudcat55 | #FriarFaithful
(via @Cut4)pic.twitter.com/hOPLJ5wtQy
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) September 9, 2020
They showed us some new moves on Tuesday! Apparently, they have a lot of range. They must be a riot in the clubs! And, thankfully, no one tried to stop them this time. Here’s to hoping they keep dancing.
Wieters’ Long At-Bat
Tonight, Twins’ pitcher Caleb Thielbar competed in what might be the longest at-bat of his career. In the bottom of the third inning, he and Matt Wieters went the distance. The two battled for 10 minutes in a 19-pitch at-bat. You can watch all of it here:
We present a 19 pitch at-bat that lasted 10 minutes.#STLCards | #CarryTheFreight pic.twitter.com/eHsffRG5ln
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 9, 2020
For context, this is tied for the third-longest at-bat in baseball history. The longest was Brandon Belt vs. the Angels in 2018, a 21-pitch at-bat. The second was Ricky Gutierrez vs. Cleveland in 1998, a 20-pitch at-bat. Wieters tied Kevin Bass, who had a 19 pitch at-bat against the Phillies in 1988. All of these at-bats ended in an out, including three fly outs, which is what Wieters did.
This at-bat also created history:
The 19 pitches Matt Wieters saw in that plate appearance with the bases loaded are the most pitches seen by any player in a bases-loaded PA since pitch counts have been tracked (1988).
By 4 pitches! Prior high was 15, 4 times!
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 9, 2020
What a plate appearance, Matt Wieters.
Naquin Hits A Truck
Tyler Naquin was playing right field in Cleveland on Tuesday. While he was tracking down a pop-up in foul territory, he had a little traffic accident.
"watch out for the trUCK!!!!!" pic.twitter.com/pheorAc9Ga
— Cut4 (@Cut4) September 8, 2020
What’s great about this clip is that both of the announcers said “watch out for the truck!” at the exact same time. They were in rhythm and it created terrific comedy. Naquin really put himself out there to try to catch this ball.
Some guys win a truck at the All-Star game, some run into a truck ad in September. To each his own.
Rojas’ Spectacular Double Play
Diamondbacks’ infielder Josh Rojas made one of the most improbable double plays you’ll ever see on Tuesday. I had the chance to see Rojas play a few games for the Reno Aces in 2019, and he was terrific. I never saw anything like this, though:
We're still trying to figure out how @JoshRojass turned this double play.
Like seriously, how?! pic.twitter.com/g7vPH71xKj
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 9, 2020
I’m still trying to figure out how he actually did this. The coordination that it took to field the ball over the bag, still drag his foot over the bag, and then plant and throw a rifle to first. It looked like a wide receiver dragging his feet to complete the catch before going out of bounds. This might be one of the best plays you see all season, and you can watch the video a million times and still not figure out how he actually did it.
Have a terrific Wednesday.