The Orioles' Matt Wieters is a fantastic defensive catcher with one of the best arms of any backstop. Sometimes, though, even the guy who has thrown out more than half of all would-be basestealers needs a little bit of help to erase a threat. On Sunday, said help was Alexi Casilla:
Alexi Casilla saves Matt Wieters with behind-the-bag tag of Desmond Jennings
It’s not often Matt Wieters needs an assist, but the backstop got a much needed one here.
USA TODAY Sports
Wieters throws to the wrong side of the bag, but Casilla snags it to keep it from going to the outfield. That alone would have been doing his teammate a solid, but Casilla anchors himself to the base and whips around, blocking the bag with his glove to tag Desmond Jennings out before the Rays' outfielder ever has a chance of slamming into second with his cleat.
There are multiples angles of this play, and they are all impressive, but my personal favorite is from the camera located above the play in question:
From this angle, you can see that Casilla always planned to do precisely what he did, as he keeps a hand on the bag and spins himself around in one fluid motion. Matt Wieters thanks you, Alexi Casilla.
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