San Diego Padres star Manny Machado showed some serious baseball IQ during his team’s game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, and the heads-up play exposed a flaw in Major League Baseball’s rules.
The Reds were leading 3-1 and had a runner on first with no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. First baseman Spencer Steer popped a ball up to the left side of the infield, and Machado looked like he had camped under it to make the catch.
Instead, Machado let the ball drop. He then threw to second to force the runner out. That runner was Elly De La Cruz, who is one of the fastest players in baseball.
Manny Machado lets the ball drop and gets Elly De La Cruz off the bases pic.twitter.com/vxr28WXyLK
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 28, 2025
The infield fly rule only comes into effect when there are runners on first and second or the bases are loaded. The rule prevents a fielder from being able to drop a ball intentionally and then get force outs at third and second for a double play at minimum.
When there is only a runner on first, the logic is that the infield fly rule is not needed because the batter will have already reached first even if the fielder lets the ball drop. In that scenario, the play is only going to result in one out — the force at second.
However, Machado showed that the defense can still gain an advantage by letting a fly ball drop even with only a runner on first. De La Cruz led MLB with 67 stolen bases last season and has 22 this year. By deliberately dropping Steer’s fly ball, Machado was able to get De La Cruz’s speed off the base paths.
The play from Machado was extremely savvy, and it might be one that inspires MLB to tweak the infield fly rule.
