CLEVELAND -- Cooper Ingle camped under and easily snagged a fly ball hit by Alejandro Osuna in the seventh inning on Tuesday. The Guardians’ left fielder began to trot toward the infield, turned and tossed the baseball into the seats down the third-base line at Progressive Field.
When Ingle’s head turned back around, he began to hear a bunch of yelling. At that point, he slammed on the brakes, realizing his grave mistake.
Ingle lost track of how many outs there were, in a moment that loomed large for the Guardians in their 4-2 loss to the Rangers.
“Obviously you feel terrible,” Ingle said. “It's a pretty embarrassing feeling.”
Osuna’s flyout against Guardians starter Tanner Bibee was only the second out of the seventh, when the Guardians and Rangers were tied, 2-2. It came while Ezequiel Duran was already on second base.
According to Rule 5.06(b)(4)(G), when a throw by an outfielder ends up out of bounds, a baserunner shall be awarded two bases. Duran scored on the play to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.
“It was just a mental error, and it won't happen again,” Ingle said.
Ingle, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Guardians' No. 3 prospect and No. 64 overall, is a catcher by trade whom Cleveland promoted from Triple-A Columbus on Friday as a way to help boost an offense that finished June ranked 29th in MLB in runs scored for the month (87). The 23-year-old has made nine starts in left between the Majors and Minors this season. He made 38 appearances between the corner spots in college at Clemson.
Ingle may not be an everyday outfielder, but he’s played there enough. This may fall under the rookie-mistake umbrella more than anything else, which is why the Guardians made sure to wrap their arm around Ingle. Manager Stephen Vogt’s message was for him to flush it.
“Every one of his teammates, when he came back in, [had the] same messaging,” Vogt said. “Obviously, I'm sure Coop is going to beat himself up about it. But those things happen and we learn from it, we flush it and we move on.”
Ingle’s locker is positioned to the left of fellow catchers David Fry, Austin Hedges and Patrick Bailey in the Guardians’ clubhouse. When reporters entered the room postgame, that quartet was sitting side by side.
Ingle sat between Hedges and Bailey and was attentively listening to Hedges. The 33-year-old and clubhouse leader kept what he said to Ingle between them, but it was evident he provided support and leadership to the rookie after a tough moment.
“I've made so many mistakes, I can't even remember half of them,” Hedges said. “I've embarrassed myself a billion times on the field. Just check my offensive numbers for my career; it's not super easy to go through that. But that's the big leagues. We're at the highest level, playing against the best players in the world.”
Ingle said he apologized to Bibee, who was charged with three runs (two earned) on five hits over seven innings on 91 pitches (63 strikes). The earned tallies came via a Joc Pederson two-run shot in the third inning.
Bibee said he told Ingle to “go tie the game right back up” after the mistake. Ingle appreciated that and his other teammates' support. He grounded out in the seventh to shortstop Nicky Lopez -- who made a sliding stop to field the ball, which had a 103.6 mph exit velocity.
Ingle’s mistake was consequential, but the Guardians also didn’t score after Kyle Manzardo’s two-run homer in the first inning off former Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom. Their offensive struggles, all while José Ramírez is on the injured list, have continued to give them zero margin for error.
If Cleveland had a few more tallies on the board, Ingle’s gaffe may have merely been a footnote. That it was more than that speaks to the largest issue. The other reality here is the Guardians have six rookies on the active roster. You sign up for some mistakes with a roster that young, whether they’re subtle or not.
“We're going to help him through it,” Vogt said of Ingle. “That's what we're here for. You're playing in your second game in the outfield in the big leagues, and a mistake like that [happens]. Let's learn. So what? It's over. Flush it. We're not gonna be mad at him. We're not gonna hold it against him. He's gonna be right back out there the next time it's his turn to play outfield.
“... This was a mistake. This isn't a judgment or anything like that. We know how good of a player Coop is, and we're going to stick with him and we're going to keep helping him.”