Neil Walker used an unusually fortunate deflection and quick reflexes to record an out

By Andrew Mearns @mearnspsa

March 31, 2019

Neil Walker has been around the block during his 11 years in the Majors. He knows that baseball can be a capricious sport. The best players are the ones who can exploit every lucky opportunity they get.

Walker had only been a first baseman for 39 of his 1,173 career games entering 2019, but it looks like the lion's share of his appearances in 2019 with the Marlins will be at first. So, he'll undoubtedly take any break he gets.

For example, take the top of the third inning of the Marlins' Sunday afternoon game against the Rockies. Tony Wolters was on third base with two outs in a scoreless game and David Dahl up to bat.

The center fielder hit a screaming liner to Walker's left. With a slide, he kicked the ball up into the air. On most days, that would've been enough for a hit, but the baseball gods intervened:

Somehow, the ball deflected right to Walker himself, who was then able to flip to pitcher Sandy Alcantara for the final out of the inning. The Rockies were kept off the scoreboard, and instead, the Marlins were the ones who broke the scoreless tie to jump into the lead. They went on to win, 3-0.

We'll chalk this circus play up as an old dog learning new tricks. Nice going, Neil.