With a man on third in the ninth inning against Purdue on Sunday, the Maryland baseball team drew its infield in, hoping to cut off the runner at home and keep the deficit at one. Then, left fielder Ben Nisle hit a grounder to shortstop, and AJ Lee ranged to his left.
However, Lee appeared to prepare for a throw home before cleanly fielding the ball first. He muffed it and couldn’t recover in time to get either runner. The miscue allowed Purdue center fielder Skyler Hunter to race home for the final run in the Boilermakers’ series sweep over the Terps, capped with an 8-6 win Sunday. It was the third Maryland error of the game.
Lee, who played third base last season, put his hands on his hips, likely contemplating his seventh error in his last seven games. His recent fielding miscues have corresponded with Maryland’s six-game losing streak ahead of midweek contests against George Mason and James Madison.
Still, despite Lee’s uncharacteristic mistakes, coach Rob Vaughn maintains trust in him, the undisputed starter at shortstop as a junior.
“Sometimes, when things aren’t going good, you get stagnant and you kind of wait back on the ball and you can get yourself in a bad spot,” Vaughn said. “That guy’s done it for a long time and he’s an elite-level defender. Just kind of had a rough stretch there.”
Lee has often executed on challenging defensive plays after transitioning from third base to shortstop.
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At St. John’s College High School, Lee manned shortstop for two years after learning from Errol Robinson, currently a prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers system. Entering college as a natural middle infielder, Lee switched to the hot corner last season because Kevin Smith occupied shortstop.
When the Toronto Blue Jays selected Smith in the fourth round of the 2017 MLB draft, it was Lee’s turn to lead the infield. He seemed prepared to take hold of the shortstop position for his junior campaign.
But for a stalwart defender, some of Lee’s miscues have come on routine plays. He has 13 errors this season compared to nine in 2017. By comparison, Smith made 12 errors in 54 games last season.
After Lee couldn’t hold onto a throw from catcher Justin Morris as an East Carolina basestealer slid into his tag on March 18, Lee peered into his glove, frustrated he didn’t capitalize on Morris’ strong throw. A month later, similar blunders are still prevalent.
On Friday against the Boilermakers, Nisle hit a would-be groundout to Lee in the fifth, which he didn’t field cleanly. And in the sixth inning, right-hander Mark DiLuia spun around and fired to second base, trying to pick off Purdue third baseman Evan Warden. The throw was within Lee’s reach, but he couldn’t make the catch, and the ball skipped into center field, allowing Warden to advance.
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Lee’s recent fielding errors don’t discredit his ability. He and second baseman Nick Dunn turned a double play in Sunday’s contest to help starter Tyler Blohm sidestep out of early trouble. In the sixth, Lee charged a slow chopper and made a sidearm throw on the run to retire Purdue catcher Nick Dalesandro.
“Some funny hops will not go your way,” Blohm said. “But he’s a confident kid. He’s a guy that we don’t worry about too much because we know he’s going to be right back, the same person the next day and working even harder to get better at it.”
Entering the year with confidence in a new middle infield combination, the Terps haven’t yet received the same consistency Smith brought to the position. With postseason hopes dwindling — Maryland will likely need to win the Big Ten tournament to reach an NCAA Regional for the second straight year — Lee’s reliability down the stretch will be imperative.
“The ball just doesn’t bounce your way at times,” center fielder Zach Jancarski said. “Sometimes that can kind of have that similar negative domino effect on a person, whether it’s mentally or physically. But regardless, every time AJ’s out there and there’s a ball hit to him, I guarantee you every guy on this team thinks he’s going to field it and throw it.”
