For my money, there are few plays in baseball more fun than the hustle double. I’m talking about a groundball or liner that looks like a routine single until an aggressive and hustling base runner takes an outfielder by surprise by busting for second base. It’s almost always a close play, and it’s almost always the product of a runner out hustling an outfielder on the opposing team. It might look something like this.
Rays fans have had the privilege of watching one of the game’s best hustle doublers over the past four seasons. It’s no surprise that it’s Kevin Kiermaier, whose wall-crashing and leaping defensive exploits are routine fodder for highlights but whose willingness to push the envelope on the basepaths doesn’t always get its due.