SEE IT: Nats prospect Drew Mendoza makes unreal grab originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Washington Nationals have just begun their spring training games, but a candidate for defensive play of the Grapefruit League season has already happened.
In the Nats’ contest with the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Florida, infielder Drew Mendoza shined in more ways than one, including this incredible bare-handed grab down the first base line:
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A two-hopper that hit directly off the first base bag, Mendoza shifted his body and made the grab with his ungloved right hand and casually ran and tagged the base for the out.
That wasn’t all that came out of Mendoza’s Sunday outing, as the 23-year-old also lasered an RBI double to right field in the seventh inning to tie the game at 4-4.
Listed as a third basemen but playing at first in the Nationals game on Sunday, Mendoza batted .264 in 2019 with the Hagerstown Suns, the Nats’ Class-A affiliate. He was a big name in college baseball. Mendoza was drafted No. 94 overall in the third round in 2019 by the Nats.
Mendoza’s grab has gone viral, which is a pretty good thing for a guy trying to get his name spoken more often in MLB circles.
