Highlights involving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are certainly not few and far between, but it’s safe to say this is a new one. The Blue Jays’ slugging first baseman showed off his glovework and his Globetrotter-esque skills on Wednesday night with a perfect behind-the-back flip on a slow roller up the line.
The dribbler came off the bat of Adley Rutschman, who was booking it to the bag with pitcher Alek Manoah in hot pursuit coming over to cover. Vladdy charged the ball and with his momentum taking him forward, realized his best bet to make the throw to Manoah was to do it the unconventional way. The toss was on the money and Manoah stepped on first base in time.
The Blue Jays broadcast was shocked to witness Vladdy’s wizardry: “What did I just see!” As it turned out, so were the players who saw it up close.
“He was actually telling me ‘I got it! I got it!’ So I was thinking he would do it all by himself,” said Manoah, who got the best view of anyone. “So the fact he threw behind his back really threw me off. But that was a dope play.”
Catcher Alejandro Kirk, who was trailing the play, gave some credit to Manoah for staying composed while Vladdy went a little rogue.
“To be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting that. I thought Manoah was going to be surprised,” Kirk said. “Thank God he got there and caught the ball.”
Of course Guerrero’s slick play conjured up memories of the legendary Bartolo Colon play of the same kind against the Marlins, which just celebrated its seven-year anniversary on Monday. You can decide for yourself who did it better, but do take into account the fact that Colon also threw a shutout on 100 pitches in that same game. That’s called multi-tasking.
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