The debate over Wander Franco’s awesome ball flip before a throw is just silly

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Whether or not you agree that Wander Franco should or shouldn’t have flipped the ball up in the air on a routine grounder before firing it to first for an out, it’s OK to admit that it was awesome. This man is an incredible infielder, as we saw a week ago with his over-the-shoulder barehanded catch.

Now, on to the debate: Stop it.

This falls under bat flipping on home runs and pitchers getting pumped after huge strikeouts. We should love all of it. The game of baseball is a delight and when amazing things happen, we should be in awe instead of pooh-poohing “showboating” or “breaking the unwritten rules.”

The thing that professional sports teams can do the most for their athletes to let them be themselves. As long as Franco doesn’t do that and then watch as a runner is safe at first, the league-leading Tampa Bay Rays — SIX losses as of right now, which is absurd — should be wowed like the rest of us and watch him continue to rake at the plate and make dazzling plays in the field.

Baseball is fun.

Wander has fun. #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/sWXuNq9ue2

— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) May 4, 2023

And — as I’ve said over and over with the new rules like the pitch clock — baseball needs this. A younger audience that’s already seeing more action, quickly and with more stolen bases will love to tune in to see what Wander will do next after seeing that viral highlight.

So, let’s move on here.