MLB world reacts to costly lack of hustle

When Cincinnati Reds right fielder Will Benson looks back at his career, he won’t look back at his at-bat in the seventh inning of Friday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays with a lot of fondness.

Benson came to the plate with one out and a runner on first in a 0-0 game. Benson seemed to be in the driver’s seat, working against a 3-0 count against Toronto pitcher Yimi García. That quickly changed when Benson swung at the 3-0 pitch. But rather than drive the ball, he got under it and hit a popup to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Or, he hit what he thought would be a popup, which would have been preferable to what actually happened.

Benson went into a light jog down to first. And while the ball was hit high, Benson wasn’t close to the bag when the ball came down. Realizing this, Guerrero let the ball drop as second baseman Whit Merrifield snuck in to cover first. Guerrero picked the ball up and flipped it to Merrifield, retiring Benson. As soon as the ball hit the ground, Stephenson took off to second. Merrifield then threw to shortstop Santiago Espinal, who was covering second, Espinal tagged Stephenson out for the double play.

Baseball fans were both quick to praise Guerrero and the Blue Jays and criticize Benson.

https://twitter.com/klooowry/status/1692702927427682526

Hitters, this is what can happen when you don’t run out a pop up. Reds get doubled up on a high IQ play by Vlad. https://t.co/DD4EW9jcSE

— Barry Rose (@BRose2344) August 19, 2023

What a BRILLIANT DEFENSIVE play by Vlad Guerrero Jr……

Thats HEAD’s up Defending right there…. pic.twitter.com/izE03WJV0T

— 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐅 (@KickinitwitKeef) August 19, 2023

For anyone curious (and judging by the Twitter responses, that’s plenty of people), this is not an infield fly. That only applies if there are runners on first and second (or the bases are loaded) with less than two outs. An infield fly is implemented to not unduly penalize the hitting team on a popup, with runners in a rock and a hard place situation.

That was not the case here. Stephenson had to stay at first. But all Benson needed to do to prevent the double play was hustle to first. Heck, even his light to jog to first probably would have been fine had he not veered off. Then, the only potential advantage from dropping it would be to retire the runner and let the hitter switch places with him. That only “works” for the defense if the hitter is the slower runner.

If there’s good news for Benson, it’s this. This mistake did not cost the Reds the game. Christian Encarnacion-Strand ended the game with a solo homer in the ninth inning.

But even with the victory, this is likely not a mistake that Benson will make again any time soon.

[Photo Credit: Apple+]