He angles back, toward the corner. He intercepts the ball after one or two hops.
I'm not going to argue any longer, but you're wrong. For same reason an infielder doesn't always travel perpendicular to the path of a ground ball. A SS for example, angles a little toward CF rather than 90 degrees from a ground ball's path to cut off a grounder up the middle.
If he's going to attempt to catch it, yes. Direct path to ball flight.
But you have to be 100 percent sure you can catch it. Otherwise, tie game for sure, and maybe worse.
Not 100 percent? Cut the ball, 3-2, live to see another hitter with the lead.