Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field, the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers are wrapping up their quick little two-game interleague series (GameTracker). The Brewers took Tuesday's opener (MIL 5, TB 3) thanks to Andrew McCutchen's go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning.
Brewers center fielder Jonathan Davis, who essentially replaced the recently released Lorenzo Cain, made a Catch of the Year candidate in the second inning Wednesday. He took extra bases away from Randy Arozarena with a lunging catch going back on a 108.1-mph line drive. Davis crashed hard neck-first into the wall:
Statcast says the catch probability on that play was 85 percent. To that I say: shut up nerds. That was not an easy play by any stretch. Any center fielder will tell you the most difficult play is the ball hit right at you, and the second most difficult is the ball hit over your head. That one was over Davis' head and he still reeled it in.
It should be noted Davis had to be checked out on the field following the catch. He immediately grabbed the small of his back after crashing into the wall, and was thankfully able to stay in the game. No harm, no foul.
The 30-year-old Davis in his fifth MLB season and the Brewers are his third team. He's a career .179/.281/.250 hitter with six outs above average in only 59 career starts in center field.
