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One batter into the game and the Outlaw is living up to his nickname.
Everyone knows Kevin Kiermaier is one of the best centerfielders in baseball today. Even in seasons riddled by injury, he still manages to pull of dazzling catches. Sometimes he pulls off stunts so absurd that it’s hard to believe they’re humanly possible.
During the Rays Opening Day game on Thursday, Kiermaier didn’t even get past the first inning before he absolutely robbed Mookie Betts of what would have certainly been an extra base hit.
Instead as the ball sailed towards the centerfield wall, this happened:
In case you forgot, don’t hit the ball anywhere near @KKiermaier39!
— #Statcast (@statcast) March 29, 2018
The @RaysBaseball star had just a 6% catch probability here -- and yes, that now accounts for the wall.
pic.twitter.com/zE2zOrouw8
Yes, you read that right. 6% catch probability.
Now let’s just pretend what happened later in the game didn’t occur and enjoy the above clip on a loop instead.