Wander Franco's wild, barehanded grab highlights Rays' historic move to 14-0 at home
Wander Franco and the Tampa Bay Rays had themselves a day Monday.
The Rays secured an 8-3 win over the defending World Series champion Houston Astros. With the victory, they improved to 14-0 at home, breaking a tie with the 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers for the best home start in baseball's modern era, dating to 1901. The Rays are 20-3 overall.
Franco's big day helped them get there. The 22-year-old shortstop went 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base. He also secured one of the wildest plays of the year in the field.
With no outs in the top of the fifth inning, Astros catcher Martín Maldonado popped up a Taj Bradley pitch into foul territory in shallow left field. Franco chased it down from the infield and misjudged the ball with his glove.
No worries — his bare hand was good enough. He missed the ball with his glove hand but snagged it with his right to snag the acrobatic out.
Umm, Wander... WUT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT 🤯 pic.twitter.com/D3KxYLzD8a
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 25, 2023
Even Franco couldn't believe he caught it.
“In all reality, I couldn’t reach it,” Franco said through his interpreter after the game. “I tried all I could with my glove, and my hand just happened to be there, and it fell right into it. I couldn't believe it myself, but I caught it.”
Like the Rays, Franco is in the midst of an outstanding start to the season, his third in MLB. With Monday's effort, he raised his slash line to .318/.388/.580, putting him on pace for career highs on all three levels. His 4 home runs, 14 RBIs and 5 stolen bases in 22 games also have him on pace to smash his career highs in each category.
There's plenty to be excited about in Tampa — for the Rays and for Franco.
