ST. PETERSBURG -- There were a lot of factors in play when Jonny DeLuca went sliding into the Rays' bullpen in the seventh inning of Tampa Bay’s 9-4 win over the Padres on Friday night at Tropicana Field.
For one, he didn’t want to hurt himself. He didn’t want to spike a teammate with his cleats, either. And, by the way, he wanted to catch the foul popup that Freddy Fermin lifted into foul territory.
The result was yet another defensive gem by DeLuca, a sliding catch that took him all the way up against the bench in the home bullpen.
“That was incredible,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I didn't get a good look at it because it was so far down the line, but I saw it on the Jumbotron. I mean, that's as good of an outfield play as you're going to see.”
DeLuca ran a long way to get Fermin’s popup, reaching an elite sprint speed of 30.3 feet per second, according to Statcast. But his wheels weren’t the most impressive part of the play. His brakes were.
Tropicana Field is a unique venue in many ways, including the fact that both bullpens are in foul territory. DeLuca began his slide around the middle of the bullpen, earlier than he normally would, because he didn’t want to run full-speed into his seated teammates as they watched it all unfold.
“Once I slid, it was just kind of hoping that I would be in the general vicinity, and then obviously I can kind of move my hand around where the ball is,” DeLuca said. “But it's kind of funky in the Trop, just because the ball comes back. So a lot of times it looks like it's going to be 10 rows deep in the seats, and it comes back.
“So I was like, 'That one kind of looks like it's going to be in the seats,' but just kind of trusted the instincts. And it ended up being pretty cool.”
Right-hander Manuel Rodríguez immediately tipped his cap to DeLuca from the mound. The other relievers weren’t quite so quick to react, as they mostly remained on the bench as DeLuca approached. That brought DeLuca quite close to right-hander Kevin Kelly’s legs as he completed the play.
“Kevin Kelly didn't get out of the way, but we yelled at him and told him to make sure he got out of the way next time,” Cash said, smiling. “You could tell it was tough for those guys who sit right there on that bench and didn't know which way to go.
“But Jonny knew where he was going.”