Minor league pitcher uses catlike reflexes to snare a line drive

A professional pitcher needs a number of skills to be successful. Strength, endurance, patience, and focus are all important. But how about quick reflexes? Those are important too, and on Wednesday night a minor league pitcher showed everyone why.

Ashur Tolliver, pitcher for the Bowie Baysox (the Baltimore Orioles Double-A affiliate), came in to relieve starter Chris Lee to begin the seventh inning of Bowie’s game against the Reading Fightin Phils (the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate). Reading left fielder KC Serna led off, and before the announcer could even finish going over Tolliver’s season stats, Serna had smashed a line drive directly at Tolliver.

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Tolliver reacted incredibly quickly, with catlike reflexes, and extended his left arm to reach out and snatch the hard-hit ball from thin air. Of course, Tolliver is a lefty pitcher, and at the end of his left arm was his ungloved left pitching hand. That had just caught a screaming liner. 

Tolliver appeared to be okay after his spectacular catch, shaking out his hand and wiping it on his pants, and acting like nothing exciting had happened at all. He stayed in the game and allowed a single before retiring the final two batters of the inning for a truly admirable outing. 

Tolliver obviously has fantastic reflexes, and hopefully they’ll continue to serve him in his career. And if playing it cool is an important pitcher skill, Tolliver definitely has that one down, too.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher