Guardians Display Some Fantastic Defense Against The Twins
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What a sweep for the Guardians!
They showed up to play in arguably the most important series of the year with the Division crown on the line. The Guardians uncharacteristically displayed some power with home runs coming in each game of the series.
But that wasn't the only part of the Guardians game that got a lot of attention. The defense made some incredible plays that you only dream about making when you are a kid in the backyard.
Andres Gimenez Diving Catch
Andres Gimenez has displayed some incredible defense at second base this season. He even ranks in the 98th percentile of outs above average.
One of Gimenez's cleanest plays of the season came in Saturday night when Max Kepler hit a screaming line drive that looked like a guaranteed base hit. However, Gimenez came out of nowhere to make an incredible catch.
The catch was fantastic in itself, but it also prevented the Twins from scoring any runs which could have come back to haunt the Guardians later in the game.
Josh Naylor First Base Pick
Josh Naylor's calling card is easily his power bat at the plate. But he's also proved to be a solid first baseman too with being in the 63rd percentile in outs above average.
Naylor had a fabulous pick at first base to help turn a double play. If he were to have dropped it or let the ball through, the play would have resulted in runs for the Twins.
Will Benson Home Run Robbery
Any other weekend and Gimenez's catch would have taken the crown for the best catch of the series. However, Will Benson's home run robbery off Kepler (yes, again) takes the cake for the best catch of the series.
Benson tracked and timed this ball up perfectly to make the unreal grab. It's even more impressive considering that he's only played a limited amount of Big League outfield and this was his first trip to Target Field.
I'll admit that I've watched this catch about 20 times since it happened.
Now yes, there were also some other defensive plays in this series that the Guards will probably want to forget. (Ex. Throwing the ball around the field after a Carlos Correa base hit.)
But those few plays should overlook the other incredible highlights we saw this weekend.
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