VIDEO: Statcast Breaks Down the Blue Jays’ Wild Ending to the ALDS
Has it sunk in yet? For many, it still isn’t quite real that the Toronto Blue Jays dispatched the Texas Rangers from the ALDS in three consecutive games. But they did.
That final walk-off play by the Blue Jays had a lot of working parts to it. The centrepiece being Josh Donaldson’s fearless run and slide into home plate which clinched the series for the Blue Jays.
Even though it was Donaldson who scored the winning run, he had a bit of team from his teammates, as illustrated by this MLB Statcast breakdown of that final play. Both Edwin Encarnacion and Russell Martin played vital roles in that series-winning play for the Blue Jays.
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Statcast revealed that Edwin Encarnacion’s first-to-second time was 3.55 seconds, which was his fastest time on a force play the entire season.
Russell Martin also bolted down the line, making it from home to first in a time of 4.6 seconds; his sixth-fastest sprint down the line in 2016.
Statcast didn’t post the speed of Josh Donaldson as he bolted into home plate, but surely it can only be quantified as “hair on fire” speed.
