Cleveland Guardians Catcher Bo Naylor Turns Botched Pitch-Out Into One Of Greatest Caught-Stealings Ever

The point of a pitch-out in baseball is to predict a potential base stealer and throw him out. The Cleveland Guardians managed to execute on both points during their game on Tuesday night. But if not for the heroic effort of catcher Bo Naylor, the second part had no chance.

Guardians pitcher Trevor Stephan entered a scoreless game in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals. On the first pitch he threw, Royals hitter Edward Olivares smacked a double.

Kansas City entered a pinch-runner for Olivares, Dairon Blanco, who promptly stole third. Then, on a bouncer back to Stephan, the pitcher had Blanco hung out to dry. All he had to do was deliver a simple throw to catcher Bo Naylor and the Guardians had Blanco in a rundown.

Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor made a ridiculously athletic play on a botched pitch-out to nab a would-be Royals base-stealer. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)

Except, Stephan made one of the worst throws you'll ever see from a Major League Baseball player.

And Stephan not being able to throw the ball where he needed to was a theme of this eighth inning.

Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor saves Trevor Stephan from another embarrassing throw

Now with a 1-0 lead and a runner on first, the Kansas City Royals attempted to get that runner to second.

But the Guardians snuffed that plan out and called a perfectly-timed pitchout.

The only problem? Stephan's inability to throw the ball where it needs to go.

He nearly threw a strike at the worst possible time. However, the athleticism of Guardians catcher Bo Naylor turned a potential disaster into a highlight-reel play.

That's truly a remarkable play from the catcher.

And, an important one, too.

The Guardians ultimately scored two runs in the top of the ninth and won the game 2-1.