Fans who were tuning in to baseball games on Thursday, May 23 were treated to some awesome highlights. The first of them was by lightning rod Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, who may have made the best catch of the season against the New York Mets, robbing infielder Wilmer Flores of a sure double.
In the bottom of the second inning with a man on first and one out, Flores swatted a Zack Greinke pitch into the gap in right center field, where it appeared he'd either get extra bases, or have the ball caught by center fielder Matt Kemp. Instead, Puig flew into the picture, dove full extension, and made a scintillating grab while avoiding a broken wrist in the process.
The shocking display of athleticism was the latest reminder of why the Dodgers put up with his sometimes-childish antics. Looking past his bat flips toward his stat page helps-Puig's been arguably the best outfield bat in MLB this season. He's currently hitting .331 with 10 home runs, 37 RBIs, 25 runs scored, and four stolen bases. According to Fangraphs.com, he's been a slight negative in the outfield with the glove, but he also provides incredible highlight reel material. Puig has never seen a wall he didn't want to run into, and has four outfield assists in 2014.
In the American League, Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish is known for a wide arsenal of pitches in his repertoire. Despite that, he managed to unveil a new one-a 55 mile per hour eephus pitch that befuddled veteran Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter.
Darvish was ahead of Hunter 0-2 in the count, in the bottom of the seventh inning with his team up 9-2. This was a good time to experiement apparently, as he broke out the Bugs Bunny-esque lob that caused Hunter's knees to buckle completely. Darvish didn't get strike three, but eventually set him down swinging. He finished the game with a line of seven innings pitches, six strikeouts, three walks, two hits and two earned runs.
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