Former big league ballplayers who turn into Major League coaches don’t always get a chance to show off their skills in front of their new pupils. Two such staff members across MLB this week, however, made some absolute highlight plays to prove they “still got it.”
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly and Royals bullpen coach Mitch Stetter each used their bare hands to snare a loose ball while posted in their typical places, the dugout and the bullpen.
Mattingly, seated on the railing of the Chase Field away dugout, caught sight of a bouncing foul ball on Tuesday. He calmly reached with his right hand and made the play, barely moving. Then the skipper played it off like nothing happened.
Of course, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Mattingly won nine Gold Glove Awards during his 14 years with the Yankees.
Though Stetter didn’t bring home the same kind of hardware over parts of five seasons with the Brewers, he made a play Wednesday that could be a candidate for catch of the year.
Kansas City rookie Carter Jensen launched his 21st home run of the year -- his second of the game -- in the fourth inning. It flew a Statcast-projected 398 feet and directly into Kauffman Stadium’s home bullpen. The Royals’ broadcast caught video of Stetter ranging to his left and stabbing the big fly with his right hand (typically his glove hand, considering he was a left-handed pitcher).
Stetter showed off the ball to the rest of the ‘pen in celebration after making the catch. Jensen, meanwhile, had plenty of reason to celebrate with the pair of homers coming on the one-year anniversary of his MLB debut.