The 3 best catches of the 2022 MLB season so far
The 2022 Major League Baseball season may be not even a month old, but the MLB highlight reels are already filled with some great defensive plays. Those stellar defensive plays include three catches made by outfielders that have to be seen to be believed.
Here are the 3 best catches of the 2022 MLB season so far
Let’s start with the third-best catch, this one coming courtesy of Jake Marisnick of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Playing with his fifth different team since the start of the 2019 season, Marisnick has already shown how he can flash the leather in Pittsburgh. In an April 30 game against the San Diego Padres (the team that he played for last season), Marisnick made what we’re labeling as the third-best catch of the entire season when he robbed Ha-Seong Kim of a base hit in the top of the sixth inning.
Not to be outdone, Marisnick showed his defensive skills again just two innings later, stretching out to deny Trent Grisham.
Both of the catches were critical as the Pirates would eventually win the game 7-6 in 10 innings. Down 6-5 heading into the bottom of the 10th, Marisnick was the “ghost runner” at second who scored the tying run on a single up the middle by Ke’Bryan Hayes, who would eventually score the winning run on a Padres error.
The second-best catch of the 2022 MLB season so far goes to Randal Grichuk of the Colorado Rockies
They say everything is bigger in Texas, and Colorado Rockies center fielder Randal Grichuk proved that he could make a big catch in a big moment against the Texas Rangers.
With the Rockies leading 3-1 in the top of the fifth and the Rangers having runners on first and second, Corey Seager stepped to the plate. He hammered a 1-0 pitch from Colorado reliever Jhoulys Chacín for what looked like a three-run home run that would give the Rangers the lead and the momentum. Grichuk, however, had other plans.
After the game, Charlie Blackmon, who was playing right field and was near the fence to watch Grichuk’s catch, said that, “It was probably the best play I’ve ever seen.”
Grichuk has brought a defensive element to the Rockies after being traded from the Toronto Blue Jays for Raimel Tapia. While the catch against the Rangers was his best of the season, Grichuk has also had other catches that have made a difference for the Rockies, especially in the vast outfield he now patrols in Denver.
He also made a spectacular catch in Philadelphia against the Phillies, covering a lot of ground to make the play.
The best catch of the 2022 MLB season so far comes from Michael A. Taylor of the Kansas City Royals
On Monday, the Kansas City Royals had to trek back across the state of Missouri to play the St. Louis Cardinals as a makeup game for a rainout that occurred on April 13. A weird one-game series never draws many fans, even when it’s the Interstate 70 rivalry across the Show Me State. However, those fans who did show up on Monday afternoon were treated to a catch that will be played on highlight reels for years to come from Royals outfielder Michael A. Taylor.
Taylor climbed the wall at Busch Stadium, using his foot and the outfield padding as his own personal step stool to rob Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner of a home run.
Kansas City ended up losing the game 1-0 after Paul Goldschmidt launched a solo home run off Zack Greinke. The Cardinals would have just four hits in the game as they squeezed out the win, but Taylor’s heroics kept the number of hits and runs at bay for the Redbirds as much as he could.
In a scheduling quirk, after making up the one game in St. Louis, the two teams will now head back across the state for a pair of games against each other in Kansas City.
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After going 0-for-3 at the plate against the Cardinals, Taylor is now just slashing .196/.313/.304 in 56 at-bats for the Royals. However, with plays like that in the outfield, Taylor proved his worth and place in the Kansas City lineup.