Addison Russell ran 106 feet to make a big, run-saving catch like no shortstop has before

Split-second reactions are the name of the game in baseball. In pressure-packed moments, instincts take over. Fortunately for the Cubs, shortstop Addison Russell has some amazing instincts, and he put them on full display in Wednesday's 6-5 win over the Pirates.
Let's appreciate the perfect route Russell ran from around the second-base bag all the way toward the third-base foul line to prevent Gregory Polanco from plating a run or two with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh:

If he doesn't make the grab, two runs probably score. Instead, no runs scored. Addison subtracted a huge run-scoring opportunity with that effort. Most remarkably, perhaps, is how fast and far he had to run considering the ball was barely in the air:

How impressive was Russell play? He ran 106 feet for a ball that had 5.4 sec hang time -- that's the furthest any SS has gone in under 5.5.

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) September 1, 2016

Needless to say, folks were impressed. Here's what Kris Bryant had to say to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat after the game:

#Cubs Bryant on Russell catch: "I had a front row seat and that was one of the best catches I've seen"

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) September 1, 2016

As for Russell's take on the play:

#Cubs Russell on his catch: "It was more like running and like a one-legged jump slide."

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) September 1, 2016

106 feet works out to just over 35 yards, meaning Russell ran almost half the distance of a football field to make that grab -- and he did it in roughly five seconds. We'll forgive you if your mouth is agape right now, because ... wow.