Vladimir Guerrero Jr. brilliantly dropped a pop fly on purpose to get a double play

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. looked to have made a strange error while fielding a pop fly, but it wound up being a great call.

While his team was facing the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, Guerrero had a chance to catch an easy out on a pop fly from Reds outfielder Will Benson.

However, Guerrero intentionally let the ball drop rather than catch it to help make a spectacular double play on the Cincinnati runner who was trying to make it to second.

This was some incredibly smart baseball from Guerrero, who evaded the infield fly rule since there was no Cincy runner on second.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. INTENTIONALLY missed this pop up.

(MLB X @Chevron) pic.twitter.com/rbISW9K8Ca

— MLB (@MLB) August 19, 2023

MLB fans were mightily impressed with Guerrero’s very clutch decision, which helped get the Blue Jays two outs instead of one.

Sometimes, catching the pop fly is the right call. Sometimes, letting it fall helps you get even more out of the situation than you previously had.