MLB pitchers catching popups is not exactly a common occurrence, even if it’s become somewhat more frequent in recent years. The starting pitchers in Monday’s Royals-Guardians game certainly didn’t get that memo, however.
In the top of the second inning, Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee caught a popup before any Guardians infielder was really all that close to him. Upon catching it and finishing the inning, Bibee raised his hands in the air as if the Guardians had just secured a playoff victory.
“I feel like pitchers don't necessarily get to catch those very often. You always get called off,” Bibee said. “I feel like whenever the ball goes up like that, my mindset is always to catch the ball. No one called me off, and I got to catch it. It was cool.”
He wasn’t the only pitcher to grab a popup in this game. In the fourth inning, Royals starter Michael Wacha caught one off the bat of Cleveland’s José Ramírez, who appeared in his franchise-record 1,620th career game played. With no disrespect to Bibee, Wacha’s catch was certainly the more impressive of the two, considering he had to run into foul territory along the third-base line to catch it.
“Let’s go," Wacha said. "With Ramírez up, I was like, ‘We got to turn this to an out there. Can’t let that AB extend.’”
-- Tim Stebbins and Anne Rogers contributed reporting