The Washington Nationals’ Michael Taylor hit a grand slam on Friday night at Nationals Park, although it should’ve simply been a lineout to center field.
Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera misjudged the 327-foot line drive, and when a leaping effort failed, the ball rolled all the way to the wall. Taylor then used his terrific speed to race around the bases for an inside-the-park homer (the Phillies’ errant relay throw to the plate also helped the cause).
A line drive right at the center fielder is arguably the hardest defensive play to read in baseball, but that was certainly not a great effort by a major league center fielder. Statcast even had the catch probability at 87%:
FWIW, Odubel Herrera had an 87 percent catch probability on that Michael A. Taylor liner, according to Statcast.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) September 9, 2017
Instead, it was four runs for the Nationals, and MLB’s first inside-the-park grand slam since 2015.