The defense bests: Fielders wow witnesses

On Wednesday, a left fielder’s throw traveled faster than any pitch from the mound, a pair of would-be home runs became outs, and that was just the beginning of the defensive wizardry on display.

If web gems are your thing, this day was a memorable one as fielders put on a show across the Major Leagues. And thanks to Statcast™, we can appreciate just how special some of those feats were.

No. 1 on that list has to be the throw unleashed by the Yankees’ Aaron Hicks, which surpassed teammate Aroldis Chapman’s highest heat and made a little Statcast™ history. The heave came in the top of the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium as Oakland threatened to extend its 3-1 lead with the bases loaded and one out. When Yonder Alonso lifted a fly ball to left field, Danny Valencia tagged from third and tried to score, only to be foiled by Hicks.

His throw, which traveled 247 feet, reached a velocity of 105.5 mph on its one-hop journey to catcher Brian McCann, who applied the tag for the double play. Hicks’ strike is now the fastest ever recorded by Statcast™, easily surpassing the 103.1-mph throw by the Astros’ Carlos Gomez last September.

“I tried to make a strong throw, accurate throw, trying to be as fast as I can from catch to throw,” Hicks said. “When you know your ball is not tailing and you’ve got that nice four-seam going straight, you know you’re going to get a solid hop. I did today.”

While Hicks used his arm to take away a run, Cardinals center fielder Randal Grichuk used his legs to do the same in Wednesday’s 5-3 win over the Cubs at Busch Stadium.

With two outs in the first inning, it looked like Anthony Rizzo would break a 0-0 tie with a two-run homer as his drive off Carlos Martinez carried toward the seats in left field. But it was not to be for the Chicago first baseman. Grichuk got on his horse and raced 87 feet across the outfield, with a route efficiency of 98.5 percent, timing his leap perfectly to reach up over the wall and snatch the ball back.

“Just getting to the wall to know where the ball is going to be is tough, but also having to jump and pull it back over is tough,” Grichuk said. “It wasn’t too far over, so it wasn’t that bad.”

Padres left fielder Melvin …

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