Willians Astudillo's helmet flew off his head twice in the same game?
When Willians Astudillo is on the basepaths, he tries really hard. The Twins catcher gives it his all every time he has a chance, and his latest chance came in Sunday's 5-3 Spring Training loss to the Yankees.
And by "gives it his all," I specifically mean he runs so hard and puts so much energy into his trips around the bases that his activity comes at the expense of his helmet.
In the fourth inning, he and his helmet went their separate ways rounding third before scoring a run.
La Tortuga continues to prove that ¡°chubby people can run too.¡± ? pic.twitter.com/Wau85RZp1C
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) March 24, 2019
Three innings later, Astudillo was at it again. This time hustling to first on a slow chop toward third base, he slid face-first and his helmet just didn't want to do this anymore:
La Tortuga is out here running WILD. pic.twitter.com/QRKG7WGU08
— MLB (@MLB) March 24, 2019
What's a manager to do, seeing a player's equipment betray him like this so frequently? Quipped Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli after the game, as reported by MLB.com's Do-Hyoung Park:
"We have to get him a different helmet. That¡¯s the general reaction, because safety comes first.¡±
I mean, he's not wrong, and there's a track record for this ...