CC Sabathia was one of the many watching as the Yankees fell to the Braves to open the second half of the season. It was tough for the former Yankees ace to watch his old team lose, but he couldn’t help but be impressed by the rocket arm of Ronald Acuña Jr., whose throw to third base nailed Jorbit Vivas and ended the inning for the Bombers.
Sabathia took to his personal X account to praise Acuña, writing: “Sheesh!! That’s a rocket arm Acuña!!!” — a reaction to the jaw-dropping throw from deep in the outfield to third base that caught Vivas, who appeared to slow down before reaching the bag, seemingly assuming the Venezuelan outfielder wouldn’t be able to get the ball there in time.
In a separate post, Sabathia added: “Two things can be true: 1) there was definitely an opportunity to slide and 2) that was an out of this world throw by Acuña that deserves all the credit…” — a comment that sparked plenty of replies from Yankees fans.
Yankees Fans Respond to Sabathia
Fans didn’t hold back in responding to Sabathia’s posts. While many acknowledged Acuña’s incredible arm, they also felt Vivas should have slid in time and criticized Yankees leadership for the team’s ongoing baserunning issues — something Joe Girardi and Michael Kay recently blasted live on air.
“Acuna deserves all the credit for the throw, but Vivas, Boone, and Cashman deserve all the blame for the out,” one fan posted on X. “The Yankees shouldn’t be in a situation where they’re relying on inexperienced players. But because they are, the coaching staff should at least be able to teach basic fundamentals. And because they aren’t, Vivas should at least use common sense and give a better effort.”
Another fan chimed in: “I’d argue the reason Vivas pulled up and slowed down was because of the insane deke from Nacho. But yeah, it was poor baserunning to an extent. At the very least, he underestimated Acuña.”