The Cubs have been fine this year, and while that’s not enough for plenty of fans, they’re still likely to be fine going forward. A big key to that continued fine-ness will be the offensive output of Kyle Schwarber, who had been in something of a slump (for him, that is, he was still getting on base with ridiculous frequency and doing damage when he did make contact.)
Today, though, Schwarber absolutely annihilated a line drive to right for a two-run shot. But while the line drive homer is obviously impressive, even more impressive is the Reds fan who made a bare-handed catch of this missile.
What's more impressive: Schwarber's missile getting out in roughly .5 seconds or this fan's barehanded snag? #Cubs pic.twitter.com/5EvDNLuNiQ
— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) May 20, 2018
That was a laser, too, leaving the bat at an eastimated 107 MPH:
#Cubs 2 @ #Reds 1 [T2-0o]
Kyle Schwarber homers (8): fly ball to RF (2-run)Exit velocity: 107mph
Distance: 376ft
Angle: 19°— Home Run Tracker (@DingerTracker) May 20, 2018
And while the ball was obviously moving more slowly at the end of it’s trajectory, flatter line drives like that lose a lot less energy than big, towering blasts that are effectively coming down with gravity. Like, say, this Javy Baez blast that followed directly after Schwarber’s:
.@javy23baez just hit this to the moon. #Crushed pic.twitter.com/QKDdXe3nyN
— MLB (@MLB) May 20, 2018
That’s a brave person who reaches out bare-handed at all, and a very talented (and likely sore) one who manages to actually make the play. Fun fact: I used to play vintage baseball, which mostly featured me attempting to play smoked liners and grounders at shortstop without a glove. It sucked! But at least I got to wear a ridiculous outfit while doing so!
Kudos to you, sir. That had to sting.