Young slick-fielding SF Giants infielder has been showing off his tagging skills

SF Giants infielder Casey Schmitt has a great pair of hands. He has put those hands on display lately playing up the middle at second base for the team. Several times now he has made great tags on baserunners trying to steal second.

Casey Schmitt can lay the tag down with the best of them

Due to injuries at second base with Thairo Estrada being out and Brett Wisely struggling, Schmitt has seen increased time at second base as of late. Typically, we think of Schmitt as a shortstop and third baseman where he has regularly shown off his cannon of an arm, but he has been just as valuable at second where he has been very solid defensively this year.

Specifically, he has really stood out with his ability to lay down great tags at second base. Of course, Schmitt is the beneficiary of having catcher Patrick Bailey behind the plate who has been one of the best defensive catchers in the game pretty much since he was called up last year. Still, even the very best catcher is going to need help from their middle infielders sometimes when trying to throw out a runner trying to steal.

Let's take a look at one play earlier this month against the Reds where Bailey throws out Elly De La Cruz who is the best base stealer in all of MLB with 59 steals. You can watch the play here.

As you can see, a lot of things went the Giants' way on this play. Harrison throws a pitch up and away, perhaps a mini pitch-out anticipating a steal. Bailey gets out of his squat really quick which is what makes him so effective in mowing down would-be base stealers. However, none of it matters if the tag is not applied. Bailey makes a pretty good throw down to second but it short hops Schmitt. He handles the short hop easily and applies the tag for the out. Most of this work was done by Bailey whose pop-time and quick release made things fairly easy on Schmitt especially since he did not have to move his glove very much at all to apply the tag, but he still did a great job handling the short hop and tagging out a super-fast runner.

Let's look at another example where Schmitt really did bail out Bails. This one happened against the A's earlier in the season and can be watched here.

On this one, Robbie Ray throws a high fastball above the strike zone. This time, Bailey's throw forces Schmitt to reach towards the shortstop side of second base to field it on a short hop with his backhand. This forces Schmitt to quickly snag the ball out of the dirt and then reach back across his body to apply the tag which he does successfully for the out. He makes it look easy, but it is important to understand how difficult that play really is. It requires a really nice set of hands that can instinctively pick the ball cleanly while also knowing you have to get that glove on the runner as fast as humanly possible. Bailey gets the credit for throwing him out, but he definitely got an assist from Schmitt on that one.

Finally, let's look at a play from last night's game against the Braves. This one happened in the 6th inning when the game was tied at 0 and can be watched here. In a pitcher's duel like that, a runner getting to second base is a huge deal. Bailey has that great pop time but again his throw bounces into second base and sails a little bit to the second base side of the bag. No need to fear because Schmitt's smooth hands are to the rescue. He is able to easily snag the ball on the hop and deftly apply the tag to runner. Smooth as Schmitt. Also, notice the fact that the ball tails away from him on the hop after it hits the grass. That is partly due to Bailey's semi-side arm release on his throws that causes the ball to tail to the right a bit more. Schmitt is so skilled that he anticipates the tail on the hop and still has the reflexes and instincts to snag the ball and drop the tag on the runner. Announcer Duane Kuiper, a second baseman in his own right, punctuated the play by saying, "Schmitt with a terrific tag!"

This is not to take anything away from Bailey since he is obviously a great catcher. But no catcher is going to make a perfect throw every time which is why it helps a lot having a second baseman like Schmitt who has those soft hands that can handle just about anything that comes his way. Schmitt may not be tearing the cover off the ball right now at the plate, but he is certainly providing value with his defense up the middle especially when it comes to applying the tag on would-be base stealers.