You won’t believe this barehanded catch by the Braves’ Daniel Castro

One of the most important things in baseball is being able to make keen adjustments. Most of the time when we talk about adjustments, we’re talking about hitters and pitchers and their ongoing duels. But fielders need to make adjustments too, particularly when baseball start flying in directions they weren’t expecting.

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Just ask Atlanta Braves second baseman Daniel Castro, who found himself in quite a position Tuesday night. One perfect and necessary adjustment had him leaving everyone in awe. It happened in the fourth inning of Atlanta’s game against the Boston Red Sox with Mookie Betts at the plate. 

Betts looped a ball into shallow right field, sending Castro after it. He slid, trying to make an over-the-shoulder catch that would make ex-teammate Andrelton Simmons proud. But the fall flung out of Castro’s glove. Before you can say, “You gotta squeeze that,” Castro reached back with his bare hand to grab the ball. Wowzers. Great reflexes.

Here’s a frame-by-frame breakdown that shows exactly what went into this catch:

Dang, almost good enough to make you forget how bad the Braves are. (Sorry, we had to go there). Atlanta lost again Tuesday night, getting K’d 14 times by David Price en route to an 11-4 loss. They’re 4-16 now after this, their seventh straight loss.

We wanted to crack a joke that Castro’s play might be the highlight of Atlanta’s entire season, but then we realized it might not be a joke. It might actually be true. 

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz