Ian Kinsler had a very good reason for dropping this pop-up

Context is everything. Need proof, consider a play made, or not made, by Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler. Viewed without context, Kinsler looks like a complete fool. But if you know the whole story, Kinsler actually pulls off a genius move.

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The whole ordeal took place in the bottom of the fifth inning during Sunday’s game against the Houston Astros. With Colby Rasmus on first, Tyler White hit hit a pop-up on the infield right at second base. Kinsler settled under the ball and put his glove up to make the play, but the ball fell right in front of him.

On the surface, it certainly looked like an embarrassing error. In reality, Kinsler had a great reason for letting the ball drop. Yes, we say “letting the ball drop” because the whole thing was intentional. Kinsler allowed the ball to drop so that he could force out Rasmus on second base. That would allow White, the slower runner, to be safe at first.

Normally in these types of situations, you might expect the umpire to call the infield fly rule. But in this particular circumstance, there was no call. As the rules state, the infield fly rule does not go into effect when there is only a runner on first base. The rule assumes that there’s not a huge advantage to doing what Kinsler did. He was credited with a fielder’s choice for his efforts.

Thankfully for White, he was hustling down the line. Had he not run to first base, there was a chance he could have been doubled-up on the play.

Ultimately, Kinsler’s decision didn’t have a huge impact on the game. White advanced to second on a single by Evan Gattis, but the next two hitters struck out, stranding him there. Rasmus, while a better runner than White, probably wouldn’t have advanced to third on the single by Gattis. And even if he did, it’s doubtful manager A.J. Hinch would have then called a suicide squeeze with Luis Valbuena.

[Elsewhere: The sun was not Rajai Davis’ friend on these two embarrassing errors]

Still, it was a heads up play, and not something we usually see out of a major-league player. Kinsler wisely realized the situation, and decided he was fine with looking look a dope for a split second before everyone realized what was going on.

Kinsler may not win any style points for the decision, but that hardly matters when the play worked to perfection.

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