In the third inning of yesterday’s fake game against the Cardinals, Skip Schumaker hit a shot through the hole on the left side of the infield for what should have been a base hit. That is, until Raul squatted down to try and field it cleanly and let the ball go right through his five-hole and roll to the wall, thus allowing Skip to reach second base easily.

Behold the .gif:

It really takes a special breed of defender to let that ball zoom past you without even slowing it down.

RAUL!

…meet Raul Ibañez.

Thanks to the folks at Lookout Landing, we have proof of Raul’s fielding skills in animated .GIF form:

• OBSERVE as Raul masterfully plays the angles!

• BEHOLD his diving catch artistry!

• BEAR WITNESS to his cannon-like arm!

• STAND IN AWE as he sets up to rob a home run!

(Bullet-pointed bold-faced stylee ripped directly from the brilliant Walkoff Walk)

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