​Diamondbacks Discover Flame-Throwing Prospect by Playing Catch with Young Kid in Outfield

What #DbacksSpring is all about. @OscarHernDbacks and Brandon Drury play catch with a young fan during BP. pic.twitter.com/8aMPe4rfvw
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 5, 2017

Baseball scouts never know where they might find the next bonus baby, or even how close to a baby's age that future ballplayer might be. Two players for the Arizona Diamondbacks could have discovered the team's opening day starter for the 2031 season Sunday, just by playing catch with a young boy in the outfield. Check out the arm on this kid as he plays catch with Oscar Hernandez and Brandon Drury from the left-field berm at Salt River Fields.

What is he, 10? Regardless of his age, the young man was impressing Hernandez, who mimed strikes like an umpire, and Drury, who stealthily requested an overthrow in order to test the kid's arm strength. Yes, he's got a cannon.

MLB.com talked to Hernandez about the encounter in the outfield:

Hernandez picked up a ball on the field as he was walking off and threw it to the kid -- who caught it and threw it back -- which initially caught Hernandez off guard.

"'Oh, you want to play catch? Let's play catch,'" Hernandez said. "That was fun. I was just having fun with the kid. When I was a kid, I would have liked the opportunity to play catch with a big leaguer."

You're darned right, that's one of the things that makes baseball great. Do you ever see kids in the stands shooting jumpers with Steph Curry? No, although you might find him bowling with fans for money during a timeout, which is also cool, but BESIDE the point. Baseball's leisurely nature allows for a (probably) spontaneous game of catch to happen organically (we hope) during spring training and it's beautiful.