Best show in St. Pete? Kiermaier’s defense

Kevin Kiermaier, by all accounts (including his own), is one of the best defensive outfielders in the Majors. He has won three Gold Glove Awards, including a Platinum Glove in 2015 for the American League’s best overall defensive player, and myriad other defense-related honors. If there were an award for “player who loves playing defense more than anyone else,” Kiermaier would probably win that, too.

“I want to be different. I want to be the best out there, and it's been like that since Day 1,” Kiermaier said. “I want to make different plays that guys just aren't capable of.”

Defense has always been Kiermaier’s forte. He has accumulated more defensive WAR (17.4) than offensive WAR (15.1) over his career, according to Baseball Reference, and is third among MLB outfielders since 2016 in outs above average with 62.

While patrolling center field, Kiermaier’s specialty is the “wow moment.” Seemingly every game he starts, Kiermaier provides a jaw-dropping play in the outfield, whether it’s a leaping grab at the wall, a sprawling diving catch or an assist on the bases.

Even as a kid growing up in Fort Wayne, Ind., Kiermaier was sprinting all over the field, relishing in the joy of making the outstanding play that would get crowds buzzing.

“I made a catch when I was 12, playing Little League,” Kiermaier said. “Playing center field, and one of my teammates playing left field wasn't the best player on the planet. Neither was I, but I was always a good defender. And there was a ball hit down the left-field line in foul territory, and I ran and I dove and I caught it.

“And somehow he wasn't even close to the ball. It is what it is, but I made a catch in left-field foul territory. And I always threw people out from center at first base.”

Though Kiermaier experimented with several other positions on the diamond throughout his youth, his coaches ultimately realized that center field was his true calling.

“I played center field for my travel team when I was 13 and 14, and I never played any other position,” said Kiermaier. “I loved it at a young age, and then when I played shortstop in high school -- went to shortstop in college, actually, but it took maybe a month or so where I was like, 'I need to go to center.' And my coach was like, 'All right, let me see what you got.' Then he's like, 'All right, get an outfield glove. Give away your infield glove. You're not going back.'”

Once he began his first full season in the Majors in 2014, Kiermaier immediately made an impact defensively with many splendid catches, like this jumping grab against the Angels on May 18.

There was also this dive/leap against the Cardinals a few weeks later, which helped the Rays escape a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning.

These catches had something in common, in that he tumbled over himself with a somersault after making both plays. Whenever Kiermaier steps onto the outfield grass, he hopes to make the big play. Kiermaier makes a point in his pregame routine to prepare for every possible circumstance he might encounter.

“You could sit here and have all the tools in the world, but if you are going out there -- I test myself,” Kiermaier said. “Literally every pitch of the game, of the season, I want to be ready for it. And you will not find video where I'm not ready for one pitch, I guarantee you that. … And I work on all that during batting practice. I try to test myself out and give myself the craziest game scenarios where I'm doing all sorts of things out there. But I just try to be as dynamic as possible.”

For Kiermaier, showmanship was not just for rookies. To this day, he regularly turns “very good” plays into gems by seemingly adding some extra oomph. Take this catch from Aug. 22, 2021, as a prime example.

As the play progresses, Kiermaier is not sprinting toward the wall the entire time. He actually stops in his tracks and takes a few stutter-steps before making a triumphant leap, catching the ball on the warning track. The result is an eye-popping play.

Like many of his signature moves, Kiermaier has been perfecting the “stutter-step-turned-dramatic-leap” motion for years. On Oct. 4, 2019, he used it to help out his buddy Tyler Glasnow and rob the Astros’ Yuli Gurriel of a hit.

Though the catch was impressive, it featured Kiermaier clearly slowing his sprint to a tiptoe for a brief moment, before he leapt into the air for the final flourish and touched back down on the outfield grass.

Another characteristic of a classic Kiermaier catch is running past his fellow defenders to make a play himself, even if his version of the catch is a bit more lively than it might have been had one of his teammates caught the ball. Check out another catch from his rookie season as evidence of this, in which Kiermaier emerged from a group of Rays to make a sliding grab along the right-field line.

“I make it a point not to take one pitch off at all,” said Kiermaier. “I'm always in a ready position to go in, back, left, right, diagonal, it doesn't matter, and that's something I hold myself accountable to every single pitch.”

If that’s not quite your taste, how about this catch from April 6, 2017, in which Kiermaier ran straight through a sea of Rays into left field, sprinting 125 feet to rob the Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson of a hit?

“I love covering a lot of ground, and I like making those plays where I've got to jump or dive or go into the wall,” said Kiermaier.

Later in 2017, Kiermaier ran another country mile into left-center field to rob fellow Gold Glover Jackie Bradley Jr. of an extra-base hit, evidently hoping to claim first prize in the “best center fielder in the AL East” contest that year.

As it turned out, neither Bradley nor Kiermaier won a Gold Glove in 2017 -- Twins center fielder Byron Buxton bested them both.

Sometimes though, Kiermaier takes his defensive prowess to the extreme. On April 27, 2021, Kiermaier jumped right in front of Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena, on a ball that was hit directly to Arozarena, in order to give himself the chance to throw out A’s first baseman Matt Olson trying to score on a fly ball from Mitch Moreland. Kiermaier’s throw arrived too late, and Olson crossed home safely.

Kiermaier caught some flak for trying to make this play himself, when it appeared to be Arozarena’s ball. Postgame, he defended his attempt to make the outfield assist.

“I'm in a unique position with what my defensive skill set is, and I'll never shy away from that,” Kiermaier said in April. “I believe I'm the best defensive outfielder in the game. I'd put my talents up with anyone, and I'm very confident in saying that. On the play, I always tell my outfielders -- especially when there's a sac fly situation -- I tell them, 'Hey, if I can get to this area, I'm throwing.’”

Still, more often than not, Kiermaier’s confidence and athleticism have allowed him to make the spectacular play in front of him. His unapologetic brand of center-field defense has helped carry the Rays to four playoff berths since he debuted, and he doesn’t appear to be letting up on stutter-steps, sprawling leaps or post-catch somersaults any time soon.

“I love proving that I can do anything and everything out there unlike anyone else,” Kiermaier said. “So that's why I love being tested and taking that limit to the max and just showing that there's no one else out there like me. And that's what I try to prove each and every night.”