The Houston Astros have been on fire recently and have completely erased their poor 12-24 start from earlier in the season and have now won 13 of 15 to up their record to 46-42 after last night’s 13-12 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Despite 25 runs being scored, one defensive play overshadowed the rest of the game, as one Astros outfielder submitted his early bid for catch of the year.
Up 10-5 in the bottom of the 8th inning, Willi Castro sent a drive high and deep to the right field corner that sent Joey Loperfido scaling the wall, and Loperfido stopped running to leap and get his glove on the ball, only to knock it down toward the ground before quickly recovering to catch it with his bare hand just inches from the dirt.
We still can’t believe that Joey Loperfido made this catch … pic.twitter.com/cLjBhgeYT0
— MLB (@MLB) July 6, 2024
It was one of the more unique catches we have ever seen from an outfielder and showed an unbelievable amount of concentration and hand-eye coordination.
The umpires initially ruled that the ball hit the wall and said it wasn’t a catch, but after review, it was clear Loperfido went straight from glove to hand.
Houston needed this catch badly as it took a 13-5 lead into the 9th inning before giving up seven runs in the frame to hang on 13-12.
Loperfido hasn’t quite gotten his bat going since being called up as he is hitting .268 with just one home run, but his defense has been a positive addition to the team as he continues to fill in in the outfield for Kyle Tucker.
