It is still very young in the 2015 season, but we’ve already seen some spectacular plays. Here are some of the previous week’s finest from the field, the mound, and the plate.
5. Jon Lester Makes An Unusual Play To First
Jon Lester snared a comebacker in the second inning of a tied game Sunday between his Cubs and the Padres. The liner off the bat of Clint Barmes got caught in Lester’s glove webbing. Instead of trying to hoof it to first to beat Barmes to the bag, Lester got creative and tossed the entire glove to first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the out.
4. Brandon McCarthy Helps His Own Cause
The Dodgers starter worked himself into a bit of a pickle in the top of the sixth against Colorado. Troy Tulowitzki came to the plate with a chance to tie the game. McCarthy induced a double play grounder to the mound in which he calmly started the 1-6-3 twin killing. The Dodgers would put up a five spot in the bottom of the inning and win going away.
3. Josh Donaldson Walks Off In Style
The Jays were down 4-0 to Atlanta going into the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday. They scraped ahead 5-4 before closer Miguel Castro gave up the game tying home run to Kelly Johnson. Offseason acquisition Josh Donaldson made sure the Rogers Centre crowd went home happy though as he belted a solo shot in the 10th off Sugar Ray Marimon to win it.
2. Nolan Arenado Shows Off His Golden Glove
In the eighth inning against San Francisco on Tuesday, Gregor Blanco hit what he thought was going to be a foul ball into the stands. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado had other ideas. The two time Gold Glover chased down the tailing pop up and upended himself over the left field tarp in the process. After all that he still had the wherewithal to attempt to double up Angel Pagan at third from his derriere.
1. Kevin Pillar Defies Gravity
We end the countdown with yet another entry from our neighbors to the north. Blue Jays left fielder had a lot of ground to cover as the ball came off the bat of Tampa Bay’s Tim Beckham. He did just that and scaled the wall to make a tremendous home run robbing catch. It is an early candidate for catch of the season in Major League Baseball.