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Mookie Betts might be slumping at the plate lately, but his performance defensively is more than enough for him to still be incredibly valuable to the Red Sox as they fight to maintain their AL East lead throughout September.
He proved that against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night with a remarkable catch that was barely retrievable, or so it seemed until Betts pulled it off.
According to Statcast, the catch probability on this hit was only 6 percent.
.@mookiebetts living the ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ life.
— #Statcast (@statcast) September 6, 2017
This had a catch probability of just six percent: https://t.co/KnQE2hrUxw #Statcast pic.twitter.com/mBODYIkNhz
Leave it to Statcast to blow our minds.
Betts’ catch helped keep it close for the Sox, who came back from two runs down to tie things up 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning.
It’s actually impressive how NOT impressive this catch is to look at aesthetically, though. It almost looks like Betts falls forward and happens to catch a ball in the process while he’s eating dirt.
But it doesn’t have to be pretty, it just needs to work. This one did!