TORONTO -- When in doubt, improvise.
Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. snagged a hot ground ball off the bat of Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich in the fifth inning of Milwaukee's 4-2 win on Wednesday night at Rogers Centre, but when Guerrero went to transfer the ball to his hand, it wouldn’t budge. Classic Baseball Cap
The ball was stuck in the webbing of Guerrero’s glove, so he quickly found a backup plan. With reliever Trevor Richards streaking over to cover first base, Guerrero tossed his entire glove to make the play and beat Yelich.
It looked more like Guerrero was lateraling a football, and Richards didn’t quite know what to do for a moment, but an out is an out.
It was shades of Orlando Hernandez, better known as El Duque, who made this play famous in 1999 while pitching for the Yankees.
In a game against the Mets, Hernandez fielded a comebacker from Rey Ordonez that also got jammed in the webbing of his glove, so he threw the entire package overhand to first base, covering at least double the distance of Guerrero’s hurl.
Knitting Kit Adults Guerrero is coming off a Gold Glove Award in 2022, and while this one won’t do much for his metrics, it will be one of the first things on his highlight reel if he finds a way to repeat.