A’s rookie earns ‘Spider-Man’ nickname after 2 stellar home run robberies
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A’s rookie Denzel Clarke robbed Nolan Schanuel with a leaping catch in center field.
- Clarke ranks in the 98th percentile for outs above average due to elite defense.
- Back-to-back Electric Play of the Week honors highlight Clarke’s emerging potential.
Los Angeles Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel doesn’t get rattled easily. The rising star made his MLB debut just 40 days after being drafted and beat rookie nerves by reaching base in all 29 games of his initial stint in the majors as a 21-year-old in 2023 and has established himself as a stable, solid contributor in the time since.
But on Monday, he was speechless.
The Angels slugger saw a 1-0 splitter in the zone and blasted the ball 401 feet to center field. The fence was about 399.
By that math, Schanuel had hit his fourth home run of the year to give his team an early lead in the bottom of the first inning at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Unfortunately for him, A’s outfielder Denzel Clarke was on the prowl.
Clarke tracked it all the way to the wall and lifted himself up with his right hand as he reached completely over the wall before spinning back in play with the ball in hand.
While Clarke may have had enough energy in his celebration for the both of them, Schanuel stood still, mouth gaped.
“I sat here for like 10 minutes watching over and over,” Schanuel told MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos. “It stings. But it’s kind of like I get a little part of history with it, because we’ll see that catch for years and years.”
The opposing batter wasn’t the only one silent. A’s reliever Grant Holman, who was the arm behind the 1-0 splitter, stood in amazement as the ball came back to him.
“Schanuel hit that ball, and I’m thinking, ‘All right, with Denzel, he’s got a chance to catch anything,’” Holman said according to MLB.com. “Then he makes that catch. I’ve never been on the mound and not known what emotion to show. But I was stunned. … The guy makes plays every day that continue to blow our minds.”
A’s Manager Mark Kotsay called the catch “pretty phenomenal” and praised Clarke’s range and speed postgame. Even Twins legend Torii Hunter, who was known for strong outfield play and home run robberies, said it was one of the best catches he had ever seen in a post on X.
But the rookie outfielder, who is just 16 games into his MLB career, described the play — a bright spot during a tough 7-4 loss to the Angels on Monday — like it was second nature when speaking postgame.
“I just timed it up,” Clarke said, according to MLB.com. “Found my distance between the wall and just did what the ball told me to do. Just go up there and get it.”
That understated recap might be because it wasn’t his first jaw-dropping catch of the season — though he later admitted it was probably the best catch of his career — and it likely won’t be the last for the rookie who earned the fitting nickname “Spider-Man” in MLB.com’s recap of the game.
In just the seventh game of his young career, a May 30 matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays, Clarke scaled the center-field wall of the Rogers Center and nonchalantly caught a 407-foot, 103-mph blast off the bat of Alejandro Kirk.
A look at Baseball Savant’s statistics shows that these home run robberies are no fluke. Clarke is considered to have “great” fielding value, according to the website, and is in the 98th percentile for outs above average this season with eight. His arm strength is in the database’s 80th percentile while his sprint speed is in the 94th.
His wins above replacement (WAR) numbers tell the same story. While Clarke has struggled at the plate, hitting .219 with just a .539 OPS — good for 46% below MLB average — he is still contributing at an above-replacement-level rate due to his stellar defense.
Thanks to his two recent home run robberies, Clarke is just the second player to win the Electric Play of the Week award in back-to-back weeks since its creation in 2019, per MLB.
This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 12:38 PM.
