Cleveland Indians: Giovanny Urshela continues to amaze on defense

Cleveland Indians third baseman Giovanny Urshela had two highlight plays Friday night, but his job security remains in question.

The most important takeaway from Friday night is that the Cleveland Indians picked up yet another win at home in a 7-2 victory over the New York Yankees.

Trevor Bauer went seven strong innings and is beginning to look like a legitimate weapon in the rotation, but another player stole the show.

Giovanny Urshela is only up with the club because Jason Kipnis is on the disabled list, and he may be headed back to Columbus on Sunday when Kipnis is expected to return. But he is making the most of his opportunity while he is here.

Urshela’s strength is his defense, and he made some memorable plays Friday night. Let’s start with the play of the night, and perhaps the one of the season if not for Austin Jackson‘s impossible catch earlier this week.

Oh my goodness. Urshela made that play look easy when in reality it was perhaps one of the most difficult plays for a third baseman to make. He was not only able to get that ball off a high hop, but he made an off-balance, leaping throw that avoided the runner and landed right in Roberto Perez‘s glove. Simply insane.

The second play didn’t top the first, but it was still one of the highlights of the night.

Just a routine play by Urshela involving a diving stop and a perfect throw while on his knees. Nothing to see there.

His abilities on defense are known to be great, but his offense is the reason why he has spent more time in Columbus than Cleveland.

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As fans may remember, he did play in 81 games with the Indians back in 2015, compiling a disappointing slash line of .225/.279/.330.

The third base job in 2016 landed in the lap of Juan Uribe, who was eventually overtaken by Jose Ramirez, who has cemented himself in that position for years to come.

With Kipnis expected to return Sunday, a decision must now be made between Urshela and Erik Gonzalez. And even with Friday’s defensive gems, Urshela may lose out as Gonzalez remains better on offense. However, the two are getting closer with Urshela slashing .213/.288/.255, while Gonzalez is sporting a line of .263/.272/.400. Yet to be fair, Urshela has only logged 47 at-bats this season compared to 80 for Gonzalez.

While a demotion would be disappointing for Urshela, he can always come back up at the end of the month when the rosters expand. The expanding rosters could even lead the front office to stick with Urshela over Gonzalez banking on the fact the offense from the utility man won’t be too much of a factor over the next three-plus weeks.

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We will know more tomorrow, but for now we can marvel at the defensive wizardry of Urshela. Even if he can’t crack Cleveland’s starting lineup, his skills should land him a starting spot somewhere in the major sometime soon.