Pirates’ Wander Franco Makes A Smooth Ball Flip & Leaves Fans In Awe Of His Skills
The game-winning play came from Wander Franco during Wednesday night’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pirates’ Wander Franco Makes A Smooth Ball Flip & Leaves Everyone In Awe Of His Skills
Martin Maldonado was on base in the fifth inning when the Astros slugger blasted the ball into foul area. To find the ball, Franco rushed up the field and into the foul zone. The ball looked to have eluded him as he picked it up with his bare hand after missing the gloved attempt.
Franco fielded a simple ground ball up the middle right below the second-base bag in the seventh inning of the Rays’ 8-1 victory against the Pirates. To grab Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds and end the inning, he merely needed to toss the ball to first base.
Just a casual five minutes in the life of Wander Franco pic.twitter.com/H6SfEMgdWp
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 4, 2023
Franco took the ball in his glove and moved it to his throwing hand. He twirled the ball in the air, grabbed it, and then fired it to first base just in time for the third out instead of sending it over to first base right away.
Franco was about 315 feet down the third base line when his forward momentum abruptly stopped, close to the left-field fence.
The Rays would triumph by a score of 8-3. Franco went 4-for-5 and added an RBI.
I think Wander Franco just unlocked a new level of breaking the unwritten rules pic.twitter.com/IYePwRyZej
— Joon Lee (@joonlee) May 4, 2023
“Just a casual five minutes in the life of Wander Franco,” the group said on social media.
Beginning of Franco’s third full season with Tampa Bay. Before dropping their first game to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Rays had won their first 13 games. Tampa Bay had a 19-3 record going into their matchup with Houston.
Franco was batting.289 with a.908 OPS through 21 games while also hitting four home homers. He had a batting average of 24-for-83 and 11 runs scored.
Wander Franco is too smooth 😮💨 @BRWalkoff
(via @RaysBaseball)pic.twitter.com/Z4NnqqwmkN
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 4, 2023
Only 83 games were played by Franco during the regular season in 2022. He missed most of the year due to a torn quadriceps, and in the midst of the year, he needed to recover from hand surgery. He finished with a.277 average, a.746 OPS, and six home runs.
Wander Franco participated in the 2023 World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic. He shared time at second base with Ketel Marte, while Willy Adames and Jeremy Pena played shortstop and shortstop, respectively.
Franco, along with Juan Soto, led the club in walks with three during nine at-bats in three games (.222/.417/.222).
Bryan Reynolds was not impressed with Wander Franco's flashy play last night 👀🍿
(h/t @TheAthletic) pic.twitter.com/ZucnYHpgJy
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 4, 2023
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