LISTEN: Wander Franco Flip is Fine, But There's a Price to Pay
Earlier this week, Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was the talk of the baseball world. Playing against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Franco made a routine groundball look much harder than it needed to.
He got the ball and instead of just throwing it to first for the out, he flipped the ball up to himself, and then threw it to first.
After the game, Pirates star Bryan Reynolds said he wasn't impressed by the play and conversation around the play has dominated sports talk for the last few days.
1) Some people love it, because baseball is an entertainment business, and that play was entertaining.
2) Some people love it, because it's a way to get young people involved in the sport. The flashier, the better for social media, and the better for social media, the better for young people.
3) Some people hate it and think that Franco was showing up his opponent, disrespecting the sport, and we shouldn't be romanticizing a routine play made more difficult.
Our own Brady Farkas from 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast discusses this topic on his upcoming podcast and says the conversation is a lot more nuanced than it's being made out to be.
He says that ultimately, he's fine with the play, but that people need to understand that there's a price to pay for becoming indoctrinated in highlight culture.
We've already seen highlight culture in the NBA and NFL, and if that infiltrates baseball, not everyone will like it.
You can see the play, and Brady's comments on it, in the player below:
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