Behind-the-back fielding attempt goes horribly wrong

St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Nolan Gorman has been one of the best hitters on the team this year. However, he isn’t particularly known for his defense, which made him look silly on an ambitious attempt to make an unbelievable play on a behind-the-back throw.

The play occurred in the bottom of the fourth inning with Texas Rangers shortstop Ezequiel Duran at the plate. Duran hit a bouncing ball up the middle which Gorman was able to get to.

However, instead of just getting the force at second base with a normal throw, he tried to make a behind-the-back throw to shortstop Paul DeJong. It didn’t work to plan, as the throw went way wide of DeJong covering second base and everyone was safe on the play.

It wasn’t actually ruled an error likely because of the extreme difficulty of the play. However, it seems like Gorman surely could have gotten someone out if he didn’t try the behind-the-back throw.

Many around the MLB world took to social media to criticize Gorman for trying to play the role of the hero on the play.

https://twitter.com/MrMatthewCFB/status/1666252679536934914

https://twitter.com/brewersbengals9/status/1666251384335867905

Bonus: Later that inning, a throw from the outfield was a mere 50 feet up the third-base line, allowing an extra runner to easily score. https://t.co/UV24rFhIOS

— Scott Andera (@sanderaSTL) June 7, 2023

Things would only get worse for the Cardinals in the inning, as the Rangers would score three runs in the inning after a three-RBI double from Marcus Semien later in the inning.

If Gorman were able to make a better throw on the play, he could have gotten the Cardinals out of the inning. Instead, it came back to cost the Cardinals in a big way.

[The Comeback on Twitter] Photo Credit: Bally Sports