Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, thousands of Phillies fans likely saw something they've never seen before -- at least not in person. Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto sent a shot to deep center field. Braves center fielder Michael Harris made a valiant effort in attempting to secure the catch, but came up short. The ball caromed off the wall toward right field, and, well, you've read the headline. You know what's coming.
J.T. Realmuto hit an inside-the-park home run:
BEST FREAKING CATCHER IN BASEBALL#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/XvhqYfu5bT
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) October 15, 2022
That was the 18th inside-the-park home run in playoff history and the first since Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers pulled it off in 2017. No Phillies player had ever previously done it. Nor had any catcher. (Source: Stathead search)
Realmuto is, of course, no ordinary catcher. He can run. He stole 13 bases last season and 21 this year. Per Statcast measurements this season, Realmuto was at the 86th percentile in sprint speed among all major-leaguers.
Still, that wasn't all speed. Realmuto had to put the ball in the deepest part of the ballpark and still needed that weird bounce off the wall. There wasn't much Braves left fielder Eddie Rosario could have done to help Harris and Ronald Acuña, Jr. hadn't moved much from his position in right.
Simply, in order for an inside-the-park home run to happen these days, between smaller ballparks and faster players with better arms than ever, a play needs to come together like a perfect storm. It did here for Realmuto and the Phillies.
