Pirates SS Kevin Newman delivers gems in 'best defensive game that I can remember'

When Kevin Newman works on ground balls, he uses it as a chance to practice plays like making a backhand stop and following with a jump-throw from deep in the hole or going left to make a spinning toss.

Never did the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop imagine pulling off both plays in the same game, as he did in the 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night at PNC Park.

“That might have been my best defensive game that I can remember,” Newman said Tuesday. “Those plays are far and few between. It’s a good feeling to make plays like that and come through for the guys.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton emphasized not only Newman’s web gems but credited him for drawing an eighth-inning walk and scoring the winning run on a bases-loaded grounder to short by Ke’Bryan Hayes.

“Kevin Newman, wow,” Shelton said. “Pretty good defensive outing there. I definitely think it was a catalyst to us winning the game.”

It started with Newman making the Derek Jeter-esque stop on Christian Walker’s grounder deep in the hole to lead off the second inning. MLB tweeted a highlight video calling him “Kevin Jumpman.”

Kevin Jumpman. pic.twitter.com/VriBY7Jj4d

— MLB (@MLB) August 23, 2021

“That’s what we always called it growing up: the Jeter play,” Newman said. “I watched him do it growing up and thought it was the coolest thing ever. That’s probably why at a younger age I started trying to do it. It’s something you have in your back pocket. When it comes up, it’s just a reaction. You try to do your best to make the throw.”

Michael Chavis, who was making his first start at second base for the Pirates, was aware Newman batted .606 in spring training but didn’t know as much about his defensive playmaking. Chavis was chatting with second base umpire Laz Diaz when Walker hit the ball deep in the hole to Newman.

“Before he made that jump throw — he was literally fielding the ball and hadn’t made the throw yet — the umpire goes, ‘Yeah, that guy’s really good,’ ” Chavis said. “Then he makes that throw on the money. As soon as he made that play, I went up to him and was like, ‘Dude, great ball talk in the middle of an incredible play.’ ”

Newman’s spin-and-throw play in the ninth might not have seemed as spectacular but also had a great degree of difficulty. The Pirates were clinging to a one-run lead when speedy switch hitter Ketel Marte came to bat. Newman shifted behind second base against Marte, who was batting lefty against right-handed reliever David Bednar.

“I was really happy to make that play,” Newman said. “Nobody on, but it was a one-run game in the ninth and that’s not who you want on base for them.”

When Marte drilled a grounder to Newman’s glove side, he showed fancy footwork and field awareness in spinning to make a perfect strike to Colin Moran at first base. Newman often practices the play in pregame workouts, though he doesn’t always have to make the throw.

“It’s probably the hardest part,” Newman said. “It’s not like you’re spinning, then setting your feet and making the throw to first base. You’re spinning and continuing to spin, then having to throw from a different arm slot and rotating. The throw is the hardest part. It’s definitely not an easy throw.”

Nor were the plays as easy as Newman made them look. The Pirates mandated Newman improve his first step and range if he wanted to stay at shortstop, and he had to fend off Erik Gonzalez and Cole Tucker in a three-way battle in spring training for the starting job.

“I think his range has improved, and his arm strength has improved,” Shelton said. “It’s a credit to him. We sent him home last offseason with some pretty strict — I wouldn’t say orders, but goals, in terms of what he needed to get better at — and he took it and ran with it, and I think we’re seeing the benefits of that.”