CLEVELAND -- There’s something magnetic about Petey Halpin.
He’s a fan favorite for a reason in this city. Forget the .594 OPS in his rookie year, it’s about the moments he keeps running into this postseason. Before Game 4 of the American League Championship Series fell apart on the Guardians Saturday night in a 7-3 loss to the Rays at Progressive Field, it was about a moment Halpin took away from someone else.
Off the bat, Junior Caminero’s fly ball in the fourth inning was gone. You thought it, the crowd thought it and Caminero thought it.
“100%,” Caminero said.
It just kept hanging up in the air, though, for nearly six full seconds. If you’d only looked at the fancy stats, you’d never believe this ball eventually ended up in Halpin’s glove. Caminero hit that ball 110.7 mph at a 29 degree launch angle, which is the very definition of the sweet spot. Looking at all available Statcast data (since 2015), this was the 265th batted ball at 110.0-110.9 mph and a 28-30 degree launch angle, which includes the postseason. The other 264 were all home runs. The 265th landed in Halpin’s glove.
“For that to stay in the yard, it’s got to do some funky stuff,” Halpin said.
Halpin had to do some funky stuff, too.
Was his route the most efficient thing we’ve ever seen? No, but that’s not what this play called for. As that ball hung up in the air, Halpin backtracked towards the wall, almost running diagonally backwards at one point, before drifting back towards the wall along with the ball. After making the lunging catch at the base of the wall, Halpin smacked into it with a loud thud. In the stadium and on the broadcast, it was almost as loud as the crack off Caminero’s bat.
"Unbelievable,” said Foster Griffin, who threw the pitch. “I think there's a number of ballparks where that's a homer. But any ball that's out in the outfield with our outfielders, I feel like we've got a chance to make a play. I feel like Petey's a Gold Glove-caliber type player, and he made an unbelievable play."
In the end, that was a warning shot from Caminero. He ripped an RBI double his next time up, part of a huge night for the big three atop the Rays’ lineup alongside Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda -- “los tres pequeños” as Caminero calls them -- that evened the ALCS at two games apiece
Part of Halpin’s draw for Guardians fans has been his personality as much as his play. There’s always a wry smile and a confidence that rubs off on his teammates. He’s already come through in some huge spots, too, with a pair of doubles in Game 5 of the ALDS against the White Sox, then a home run here on Thursday to help the Guardians win Game 3 of this series.
He is, in the least analytic of terms, a gamer.
“Where else would you want to be?” Halpin said. “We’re battling it out in the ALCS for a trip to the World Series. I really like where we’re at. This should be a fun couple of games.”
Halpin’s brand of baseball fits this just perfectly. The Guardians are built on great defense and timely hitting, which is all he’s provided for the past two weeks. Every World Series run has that unexpected fan favorite, too, and if the Guardians can bounce back to pull this off, it feels like Halpin has another moment or two waiting.