Prior to Monday, Ryan Zimmerman had stolen just one base since the start of the 2014 season. He’d attempted only one steal during that time. He’s not especially fast, so stealing a base is not something he probably considers very often. Yet on Monday, he stole a base as easily as you’ll ever see a player steal a base that isn’t ruled defensive indifference or didn’t involve a passed ball or wild pitch.
Bartolo Colon is such a nice guy he’s giving away free stolen bases
Here is the start of the play. Zimmerman hardly has a lead that you’d think would lead to him practically walking to a stolen base.
Zimmerman was such a non-threat to steal, Bartolo Colon may have forgotten all about him. On the next pitch, Colon went out of the full windup instead of the stretch. At that point Zimmerman didn’t really have an option other than to take the free base that was being presented. Not even running hard, he made it halfway down the line by the time Colon released the ball.
Had Zimmerman sprinted the entire way, he may have reached second base before Colon even released the ball. Instead, he was able to mosey into second base with what has to be the easiest of his 38 career steals. Even he had to have a laugh about how easy it was.
(H/T MLB for the full video)
