Connor Joe has made a significant impact on the Pirates' fan base in 21 short games. By the time he made his fourth plate appearance of Friday night's 4-2 win over the Reds, more than 17,000 fans at PNC Park were chanting his name.
Joe's been hitting the ball very well, and he raised his season slash line to .377/.459/.679 with a three-hit performance in Friday night's victory.
But, just one night after his bat helped lead the team to a win in the first of this four-game series, his glove helped secure a streak of 11 straight quality starts by the pitching staff.
Mitch Keller's once dominant start began to unravel in the fifth inning of Friday's game, and the teams were deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the sixth. After giving up a leadoff single, Keller bounced back with two flyouts, but needed a third out to get through the necessary six innings for a quality start. More important, he needed to keep the score tied.
On a pop fly in foul territory, Joe navigated the limited room in foul territory, tracked the ball and made a sliding catch to preserve the score:
No, this doesn't compare with the wizardry of Ke'Bryan Hayes blacking out while turning a spectacular double play. But, plays like this can too often go unappreciated, especially when much of the attention on Joe has come at the plate.
Joe's made a concerted effort to become a reliable defender in right field, which is it's own unique challenge in Pittsburgh.
"I played a lot more left field with Colorado," Joe said. "But as I’m getting more reps in batting practice and working with Tarrik [Brock], I'm a lot more comfortable out there. The angles, kind of working on my set up and stuff like that. It’s all about reads and using your eyes. I’m getting more comfortable out there, for sure."
If the glove fully catches up to the bat, we may have found the steal of the offseason.
