Hill stuns teammates with jaw-dropping home run robbery

NEW YORK -- It takes a lot to make Zack Wheeler smile on the mound.

But teammate Derek Hill making a jaw-dropping catch to rob Juan Soto of a home run is enough to do the trick.

“It's the best one I've ever seen in person,” Wheeler said.

Hill left his teammates in awe when he reached high above the right-center-field wall to rob Soto of a first-inning homer in Friday night's 2-1 victory over the Mets at Citi Field.

The catch immediately moved to No. 1 in Hill’s personal rankings.

“Not quite like that one,” Hill said when asked if he’d made a catch like that before. “ ... And, obviously, the guy I did it against makes it a little bit cooler.”

And the thoughts from that guy he did it against?

“It was an unbelievable catch,” Soto said. “When you see the replay, when you see how impressive it was -- I mean, he didn't even have any timing, he just went straight to the wall and jumped. That was incredible.”

Hill, who was shaded slightly toward the left-field side of second base, got a good jump on the ball and raced toward the warning track. Never breaking stride, Hill timed his jump perfectly to high-point the ball above the wall.

“I look back and he's on a dead sprint toward the wall, and I’m like, ‘He's about to go get this thing,’” Wheeler said. “And sure enough, he did.”

It was enough to make the usually stoic Wheeler crack a smile as he stared toward the outfield -- but he was far from the only Phillie to react.

Right fielder Brandon Marsh, who was converging on the ball himself, immediately took off his hat and dapped up Hill.

“Insane,” Marsh said. “It was probably one of the best catches I’ve seen. He didn’t have time to time up the wall – he just had to go full speed and sacrifice his body.”

Philadelphia's infielders were equally in shock.

Second baseman Bryson Stott, shortstop Trea Turner and third baseman Alec Bohm all lifted their arms in unison. At first base, Bryce Harper -- perhaps waiting to make sure that Hill had indeed made the improbable catch -- eventually raised both his arms high above his head while Bohm continued staring out toward Hill with one hand on his head in disbelief.

“I had a pretty good view of that,” interim manager Don Mattingly said of his direct line of vision from the third-base dugout. “That was unbelievable.”

As for Hill’s reaction?

“Um, honestly, I don’t got much on that one,” Hill said. “I just kind of blacked out; pure instincts and whatnot.”

Marsh’s instantaneous celebration -- one which he described as “we just screamed at each other” -- brought Hill back to reality pretty quickly.

“He's the best hype man ever,” Hill said. “He’s great. I love having him out there with me.”

The celebrations continued after the inning, with Harper and Turner among those who waited outside the dugout to acknowledge Hill. Wheeler, delayed by the post-inning check from the umpire, tracked down Hill in the dugout.

“I just told him, ‘Thank you very much,’” Wheeler said. “Gave him a hug.”

It proved to be a crucial play in the eventual one-run victory -- one in which Hill also scored the game-winning run.

“I mean, I'm not gonna say it won us the game," Marsh said, "but it won us the game."

Wheeler was more direct.

“That won the game right there,” he said of the catch.

With the game tied at 1, Hill used that same speed to beat out an infield single to lead off the seventh inning. He later came around to score on an RBI single by Trea Turner, who continued his recent surge with his fourth consecutive multihit game.

Hill’s big night only added to what has been an incredible week.

Acquired from the White Sox on June 11, the newcomer hit a go-ahead two-run homer with the Phillies down to their last out in Wednesday's 5-4 victory over the Nationals. He added another two-run homer in the ninth inning one night later as the Phillies continued their historic streak of late-game heroics.

“It's been great,” Hill said. “These guys have opened the door for me, welcomed me in with open arms and everything like that, so it's been great. I’ve got nothing but great things to say about the fanbase, the staff, the players. It's been awesome.”

And it hasn’t been a surprise to the Phillies.

“I think that’s the reason we identified him as a guy that could help us,” Mattingly said. “You see the defense, you see the speed, the at-bats have been good. So everything, obviously, really good.”