Wow. I’m not sure there have been many more impactful (and potentially season-altering) defensive plays than the leather Ender Inciarte threw at a Yoenis Cespedes deep fly ball last night in New York.
The Moment: With two outs and two on in the bottom of the ninth inning, the New York Mets found themselves down just one run, with their best hitter, Yoenis Cespedes, at the plate. After going down 0-1 in the count, Cespedes sent the second pitch of the at-bat way out to deep, right-center field. For a fleeting moment, the ball looked long gone, but unfortunately (well, for the Mets, at least) Ender Inciarte had something to say about it:
The Impact: Every season is a collection of hundreds of games and thousands of moments. You really can’t point to any one moment as the moment, because far too much happens all around it. That said, this moment might really start to feel like the moment for Mets fans. Given the Nationals’ commanding lead in the NL East, the Mets’ only shot at the 2016 postseason will come via the Wild Card.
As of this morning, there’s a three-way tie between the Mets, the Giants, and the Cardinals. Both the Giants and the Cardinals lost yesterday too, but it was the Mets’ third loss in a row (to the last place Braves, no less). Had that ball been a few inches higher, or Inciarte’s reach been just slightly askew, the Mets would have the jump on the other teams.
Alas, the moment.
A huge, critical walk-off homer for Yoenis Cesped … nope.
Wow. Baseball. pic.twitter.com/S65XVYXq9G
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) September 22, 2016
According to Statcast, Cespedes crushed that ball (102 MPH) 396 feet out to right-center field. In another ball park, it may have been long gone. But, he didn’t and it wasn’t. In the end, Chase d’Arnaud put it best:
@Enderdavid18 made the greatest and most dramatic heartbreaking catch that I have ever seen with my own two eyes tonight! #Braves @Braves pic.twitter.com/CrCnlruT8N
— Chase d'Arnaud (@chasedarnaud) September 22, 2016
P.S. I made it through this whole article without using any Ender puns! Nope, there were no “Ender’s Game,” jokes from me. And I certainly never used the P.S. area to sneak in a “What a Game Ender,” pun either. I – nay – WE are simply well above that here at Baseball Is Fun.