Sometimes, baseball players have to improvise.
With a man on third base with one out in the second inning Tuesday at FirstEnergy Stadium, the Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies Double-A) pulled their infield onto the grass to try to stop the run from scoring. Pitcher Jean Cabrera did what was needed, getting Chesapeake's Aron Estrada (Orioles) to roll a ground ball toward second baseman Aroon Escobar.
Escobar fielded the ball cleanly and turned to throw home, but he couldn’t get the ball out of his glove. It appeared to be stuck in the webbing.
Running out of time, Escobar simply ripped the glove off of his hand and threw the whole thing -- lodged ball included -- to first base. Though Reading couldn’t stop the run from scoring, Escobar (PHI No. 4 prospect) still helped record a key out, as Cabrera worked an inning-ending strikeout in the ensuing at-bat.
The Reading bats -- including Escobar -- then backed up their pitching and unique defense. The Fightin Phils responded to four early runs from Chesapeake with a six-run third inning, in which Escobar drew a bases-loaded walk. Alex Binelas delivered the big swing, a one-out grand slam.
COMPLETE PHILLIES PROSPECT COVERAGE
Reading never looked back from its newfound 6-4 lead, clinching a 9-5 victory over Chesapeake. And who knows what might have happened had Escobar not had the quick wit to make that out.
While glove flips for outs aren’t unheard of, they’re not exactly common. We did see one this season at the Major League level, with the Angels’ Nolan Schanuel flipping his mitt to pitcher Jack Kochanowicz for an out, and there have been several others over the years.