Ian Desmond is a fine defensive shortstop, and he reminded everyone of this on Tuesday with a play that showed off both his range and his wits. The Nationals' shortstop charged a ground ball headed in between short and third base, and turned around fully mid-run to deliver an unexpected throw to second base:
Ian Desmond’s quick-thinking bounce throw
It’s not how you normally get the lead runner at second, but it did the job for the Nationals’ shortstop.
Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Desmond didn't have an angle to throw the ball normally, not with the head full of steam towards third base he had. Throwing from the shoe tops with power and accuracy is a dream for a whole lot of non-Jose Iglesias shortstops, so Desmond went with the next-best thing, and bounced his throw off of the infield dirt as hard as he could to bounce it to the keystone and beat the runner.
This is the kind of thing you could see happening on turf, just because of the extra bounce it has. On dirt, though, it’s a surprise this even worked. There was room for error here, just like with a throw from his ankles, but it all worked out this time.
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