Dodgers bat boy saves Shohei Ohtani with barehanded catch

Kyle Madson

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Dodgers bat boy saves Shohei Ohtani with barehanded catch image

 Shoutout to Javi! 

The Los Angeles Dodgers bat boy narrowly saved Shohei Ohtani from getting hit by a line drive into the Dodgers dugout during their 4-0 win over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on Wednesday. 

Ohtani was standing alongside the bat boy when a screaming line drive shot toward the first base dugout. As Ohtani started to duck out of the way, Javi snagged the ball barehanded in a video that looks like CGI. He casually grabs the baseball out of the air, keeping it from reaching the Dodgers superstar designated hitter, and then appears to flip it to a fan behind him in what might be the single greatest defensive play in baseball all season.

Kyle Madson

Kyle Madson Photo

Kyle Madson neither likes writing about himself nor writing in the third person. Nevertheless, he persists. While Kyle has spent most of his writing career covering the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers, he’s never lost the love of baseball that has resided in the deepest recesses of his soul since he began playing T-ball at 4 years old (no matter how hard John Fisher has tried). Aside from writing, Kyle also hosts a radio show, the Insiders, with James Ham on ESPN 1320 in Sacramento. When he’s not being a sports dork, Kyle loves being a normal dork and traveling, visiting museums, diving further into K-Pop fandom (#SKZ) and hanging out with his wife and cats. Don’t follow him on Twitter or Instagram at @KyleAMadson.