wander-franco-usatsi.png
USATSI

During the course of an 8-1 win over the Pirates on Wednesday, star Rays shortstop Wander Franco dialed up a little razzle dazzle on an otherwise routine grounder. He basically just flipped the ball to himself, after the exchange from glove to bare hand, before his throw to first took care of the otherwise-simple 6-3 putout to end the top of the seventh. 

Here's the play: 

The hitter for the Pirates on that grounder was All-Star Bryan Reynolds and he was asked about it after the game. He offered up a simple judgement, via The Athletic. 

"I saw it. It didn't impress me."

A play like that is always going to be polarizing and it went crazy on social media. On one side, you've got the people who believe Franco's play was "disrespectful" to the game and opponent and was a bit too "showy" or something in that ballpark. 

On the other side -- to be clear, I'm on this team -- you've got the people who believe this game is meant for our entertainment and if Franco can pull it off, more power to him. The easy response to the whole "he's showing up his opponent" is that these aren't little kids but instead adults who are professional athletes and if Reynolds doesn't like it, he shouldn't ground out. 

It seems the debate will rage on with the fire of a thousands suns, though, and I don't care to stand in the way. Did Franco's play cross the imaginary line or was it all within the confines of the sport being for our entertainment? Argue at will.