Brewers Minor Leaguer Lucas Erceg Fools Baserunner with Hidden-Ball Trick

Milwaukee Brewers prospect Lucas Erceg pulled off one of the oldest tricks in the book—and thus one that rarely works—to steal an out in Wednesday's game against the Houston Astros' minor league affiliate.

After the Buies Creek Astros executed a double-steal, the Carolina Mudcats third baseman pretended to toss the ball back to pitcher Wuilder Rodriguez. He instead kept the ball in his glove and waited nearly 30 seconds for Kyle Tucker to step off the base.

Erceg, Milwaukee's No. 7-rated prospect on MLB.com, rushed to tag an unsuspecting Tucker. In a bit of dramatic irony, everyone else seems aware of the situation. The announcers sniff out the deception from the beginning, noting that the Buies Creek bullpen notified the first-base coach of the ruse.

Tucker seemingly thought Rodriguez either had the ball or was in violation by broaching the mound without it. A Twitter user clarified the rule, drawing verification from Erceg:

The Mudcats avoided a sweep with a 3-0 victory.     

[Carolina Mudcats]