Ward kept the ball he robbed Shane Langeliers and Oakland Athletics of a would be grand slam on on Monday night. The baseball was still in his locker on Tuesday, the Angels’ second game of the series.
“It kind of just all happened so fast that there wasn’t really much time to think, judge or do anything like that,” Ward said before Tuesday’s game, “it was more just go and catch it.”
Ward joined his three-time American League most valuable player teammate Mike Trout as the two Angels players who have robbed a grand slam since 2004, per Sports Info Solutions. (SIS has tracked home run robberies since 2004.)
As the leadoff hitter in Tuesday’s game, Ward went two for four with an RBI, joining Brandon Drury, Luis Rengifo and Gio Urshela as Angels who drove in at least one run in the team’s 5-3 win over the A’s. Griffin Canning pitched five innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits and two walks. He and struck out seven. Carlos Estévez completed a five-out save.
Though no dramatic plays were needed of Ward on Tuesday, he has made quite a few of them this season. It’s been the result of the work he has put in this year to be keenly aware of the outfield wall. He has set out to make that kind of home run-robbing play this season.
“For me, really once the season ended last year I wanted to evaluate my deficiencies, I guess you could say,” Ward said earlier in the season. “Still just always getting better with the wall and knowing where the wall was. With the injury last year, that really stunned my perception of what I need to work on.”
Ward hurt his shoulder and neck during a game May20 against the A’s last season after crashing into the right-field wall while making a catch. The issue did not force him to the injured list, but it’s not something he’s forgotten.
“[Familiarity with the wall] is still at the top of my list and probably always will be,” he continued. “I want to be able to take home runs away. I want to be able to do all these things.”
(Michael Dwyer / Associated Press)
Ward got that first home run robbery 23 games into the regular season. The catch is an obvious memorable moment for him. He also made a catch in Boston on April 14 that had a 25% catch probability.
“He doesn’t take a day off in the outfield working pregame and it’s showing,” Trout said. “He’s making big plays for us. He’s making hard plays look routine. It’s fun to watch.”
Another of Ward’s favorite plays this season occurred April 8 in foul territory, during which he secured an out on the Blue Jays’ Brandon Belt, with Tyler Anderson on the mound that game.
Ward ranks among some of baseball’s best outfielders this season, based on Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average. OAA is a range-based metric, defined by Baseball Savant as “the cumulative effect of all individual plays a fielder has been credited or debited with … that accounts for the number of plays made and the difficulty of them.”
Ward ranks seventh on that leaderboard with an OAA of two.
There’s still a long way to go in this season for the Angels. Tuesday’s game was just their 24th. But if Ward keeps up his defensive success, he could find himself in serious Gold Glove conversations.
“He’s made some really fine defensive plays,” manager Phil Nevin said before Tuesday’s game. “I think he’s improved his game quite a bit. … I like the way that he plays left field. I think he’s in that discussion of some of the best defensive outfielders out there.”