Petey Halpin added another October moment to his resume Saturday, and this one came with his glove.
In the fourth inning of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, the Guardians rookie sprinted back toward the center field wall, tracked down a drive from Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero and made a running catch before crashing into the padding at Progressive Field. What had looked like a sure extra-base hit instead turned into a highlight that got the crowd on its feet.
Caminero, who tied for second in the American League with 42 home runs during the regular season, hammered the second pitch he saw from Cleveland left-hander Foster Griffin. Statcast said the ball came off the bat at 110.7 mph and carried a projected 410 feet. Halpin still ran 85 feet toward the warning track, picked up the ball over his shoulder and made the catch as he fell forward into the wall.
For Halpin, it was the latest entry in a postseason stretch that has come fast and loud. Just two days earlier, he delivered the biggest swing of his young career, lining a go-ahead two-run homer off Griffin Jax in the fifth inning of Cleveland’s 3-2 win in Game 3. His bat flip after that blast turned heads immediately.
“I think just the moment and that being for sure the biggest moment of my career, just the energy and the excitement, just kind of let it go,” Halpin said after Thursday’s win.
His October run really started in Game 5 of the ALDS against Chicago, when Stephen Vogt put him in the starting lineup for the struggling Angel Martínez. Halpin responded with two doubles in Cleveland’s series-clinching win, and Vogt has kept him in there ever since.
“That’s some big-time stuff what you did,” Vogt recalled telling Halpin after the ALDS clincher. “He hasn’t played or started a game in quite some time. And hey, we gotta win Game 5, winner-take-all, go get ‘em, and he wraps two doubles.”
Through six postseason appearances, including four starts, Halpin was batting .333 (4-for-12) with two doubles, a home run and two RBI before Saturday’s game. His Game 3 homer made him just the fifth rookie in Cleveland history to hit a go-ahead postseason home run.
Even opposing pitchers have felt how tough he’s become to navigate. Rays right-hander Freddy Peralta said his nine-pitch battle with Halpin in Game 2 stood out.
“Since the first at-bat, he was a little, for some reason, uncomfortable for me because he was making adjustments to all my pitches,” Peralta said.
Vogt says the biggest thing is that Halpin never seems rattled, no matter the role.
“I don’t feel like any moment ever gets too big for him,” Vogt said. “He’s just ready and he loves playing and he wants to help the team win.”
Halpin said that trust from Vogt and the staff has only made him more confident.
“Just knowing that Vogt had that trust in me and the rest of the staff, it gave me confidence,” Halpin said Thursday. “If they know I can do it, then I can do it. I have no fear.”
On Saturday, he proved it again by charging full speed into the wall and taking a hit away from one of the game’s biggest power threats.
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