Evan Longoria Shows Why He Is One Of The Best Defenders In Baseball

The Rays lost their opener to the Orioles 7-4. But it would have been much worse if not for the stellar glove work of Evan Longoria.

On three occasions in the game, Longoria dove to his left to stop a hard groundball. Twice he threw out the runner from his knees. And once he threw out a runner while sitting on his butt. Most third baseman might make a play like this once a month. Longoria did it three times on opening day.

While he might not be Brooks Robinson, there have been comparisons to another great dual-threat third baseman, hall of famer Mike Schmidt. And as long as Longoria can stay healthy, that comparison is not a stretch...