One of the hardest things a pitcher is asked to do is to field their position. There aren’t many routine defensive plays for a pitcher. They face everything from hard liners hit right back at them to dribblers into no man’s land—with the added challenge of having to run off of the mound to field them. It can be really tricky, and sometimes they have to get creative—like Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal did on Sunday.
In the second inning of Detroit’s game against the Marlins, Skubal got Jon Berti to hit a weak grounder along the first base line. Skubal got to the ball before catcher Jake Rogers but had no time to gather himself and make a conventional throw to first. Instead, he flipped the ball between his legs like a football long snapper. It didn’t work.
The snap was a bit high 😂@Marlins | #MakeItMiami pic.twitter.com/tKZ88niHi7
— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) July 30, 2023
Skubal had nothing to lose. Rogers wouldn’t have been able to make the play, either. As a lefty, Skubal couldn’t have fielded the ball with his bare hand while facing the base. Plus, Berti has elite speed and was all but assured to reach safely after hitting such a soft grounder. Skubal’s flip had no downside. Even if the throw was wild (which it was), there was no way it was going to travel far enough away from any of the three defenders converging on the play to allow Berti to go to second. And hey, it’s worked for other pitchers in the past. In 2010, Mark Buehrle used his glove for a between-the-legs flip to get an out at first. It was worth a shot for Skubal. If he’d pulled it off, it would have been an iconic highlight like Buehrle’s play.
