It’s only June and we might have the catch of the year already after Athletics outfielder Denzel Clarke pulled off an incredible home run robbery.
The Athletics are in Anaheim playing the Los Angeles Angels, and in the bottom of the first inning of Monday’s contest, Nolan Schanuel took Grant Holman’s splitter deep to center field. It looked like it was going to go over the wall to give the Angels an early 1-0 lead.
Instead, Clarke scaled the wall, reached over and caught the ball in one of the best catches one could make. Clarke got so high he almost went over the wall, but he was hyped as he landed back in the field of play. Mostly everyone, especially Holman, in the stadium couldn’t believe what they saw.
It was an impressive catch for a ball that went 398 feet to center field.
Monday was just Clarke’s 16th game in the big leagues after he was called up in May. Taken in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Cal State Northridge, Clarke entered the night with a .224 batting average with one home run and three RBI, but he already has an all-time highlight play in his career.
It may just be something Clarke does as this isn’t the first time he’s robbed a homer. On May 30 against the Toronto Blue Jays, Clarke robbed Alejandro Kirk from a home run as he scaled the wall to catch the ball back in his home country.
The catch against the Angels come three days after he had another incredible snag against the Baltimore Orioles, as he turned on the jets and hauled in the ball before hitting the wall to steal a hit away from Jorge Mateo.
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