NEW YORK – There is a spot at Citi Field that will hold a special meaning in Jacob Young’s Major League career.
Young made not one but two stellar defensive plays at the center-field wall – including a game-saving home run robbery – in the Nationals’ 3-2 win over the playoff-chasing Mets on Sunday.
“Nothing’s better than quieting 40,000 people,” said Young. “So it never gets old.”
Young looked like he had lost the ball in the fifth inning. Running back to the outfield wall on Brett Baty's scalded drive off Jake Irvin, Young got turned around and had to make a last-second swipe with his glove to corral the ball.
Only he didn't. Young's glove slapped into the wall and the ball slipped out, destined for the warning track dirt. But then in a moment that seems impossible to replicate, Young channeled his childhood soccer days. He kicked the ball with his flailing right leg and plucked it out of midair to complete a miraculous catch.
“I tried to kick it – I think more instinctively than actually trying,” said Young. “As a kid or as a person, you just never let the ball hit the ground. It was just reaction. Somehow, I kicked it right back to me. So I’ll give credit to my AAU soccer coach.”
Replays showed the ball clearly did not touch either the ground or the outfield wall, leaving Young and everyone else at Citi Field in shock.
The deep fly left Baty's bat at 104.6 mph and flew a Statcast-projected 413 feet just to the right of dead center field. It had a 92% hit probability, and it would have been a home run in 22 MLB ballparks, per Statcast.
"That was unbelievable,” said Baty. “... I smoked that ball, and that's a homer in probably like 25 other ballparks. And he makes a crazy play at the wall? But I can't control any of that besides hitting the ball."
Young wasn’t done; he was saving the biggest play for last. He secured the series win for the Nationals in the ninth inning by robbing Francisco Alvarez of a game-tying home run off Mitchell Parker, who earned the save in his bullpen debut. The pinch-hitting Alvarez clobbered the ball to left-center a Statcast-projected 411 feet at 110.9 mph, which would have been a homer at 12 ballparks.
“We were in no doubles, so we were back farther than usual,” Young said. “He hit it well, you could tell. But I didn’t think he hit it low, so I didn’t think it was going to be honestly that far to the wall. I thought it was going to come down, but he backspun it well, obviously.
“At that point, once you get close enough, you’ve got to jump and hope. I’m just happy it stayed in my glove once I hit that black fence.”
Young, a 2024 Gold Glove Award finalist, has already been recognized this season for his stunning defense in center field.
He won MLB’s Electric Play of the Week on July 28 for robbing Cincinnati's Will Benson of a home run. On July 2, Young climbed the wall to make a Spider-Man robbery against the Tigers’ Riley Greene.
Young also was named the Nationals’ recipient of the 2025 Heart & Hustle Award by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.
Young entered Sunday tied for first among all outfielders since the start of the 2024 season with 33 outs above average.
“JY show[ed] why he’s the most exciting center fielder in the game,” said Irvin. “He made the best play I’ve ever seen in person – probably just ever seen in general.”
Young’s jaw-dropping defense was a spark for the Nationals outfield, which sustained a scary injury in the third inning when rookie Daylen Lile slammed into the left-field side wall chasing a Cedric Mullins fly ball. Lile initially rolled on the ground in pain and medics brought out a wheelchair, but he was able to walk off the field on his own. Lile was diagnosed with a left knee contusion.
“When you’re in a game like this in a playoff-like environment, you never know when that big play’s going to happen,” Young said. “So I try to stay focused for all nine.”