About halfway through the San Francisco Giants 4-1 loss to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, outfielder Steven Duggar made a sensational inning-ending defensive play to save at least two runs.
It came at a cost. Duggar immediately grabbed his left shoulder, which he injured near the end of the 2018 season, his first at the MLB level. Duggar underwent season-ending surgery in August, rehabbed through the offseason, and entered spring training healthy, albeit with strict instructions: no diving.
You can’t exactly tell a defense-first outfielder to not dive once the games actually matter, though, and it caught up to Duggar in a bad way.