Déjà vu? Taylor mimics McNeil's famous catch in South Side netting

August 31st, 2024

CHICAGO -- After did his best Jeff McNeil impression in the Guaranteed Rate outfield on Friday, McNeil relayed a bit of a public service announcement through Taylor.

“He wants me to let you know that it was the second-best net catch,” Taylor told reporters with a laugh after the Mets' 5-1 win over the White Sox.

On Aug. 1, 2019, McNeil launched himself into the protective netting down the right-field line on the South Side after making a running catch on an Eloy Jiménez fly ball. Friday, the Mets returned to Guaranteed Rate Field for the first time since that series, and history repeated itself.

Luis Robert Jr. skied a fly ball down the right-field line in the eighth inning. Taylor, who entered the game in the top of the inning as a pinch-runner, gave chase. Almost instantly, the play felt familiar to McNeil.

“Pretty sure when the ball was in the air, I said ‘Do it,’” McNeil said. “Because I knew it was going to be in the net, and he did it.”

Indeed. McNeil made his catch on the field and then had his momentum take him into the net five years ago. On Friday, Robert’s fly ball was going to land in the netting. If Taylor did not haul it in, that is.

“I felt the net getting closer, and then I just committed and went for it to see what happens,” Taylor said.

Taylor tracked it down, and as it fell from the sky, he leaped into the netting to make the grab -- a play of pure instincts.

“I was taking my time because I wasn't sure if the wind was going to push the ball back into play or not,” Taylor said. “I started feeling the track, and then realized that I was close to the net. I thought I had a chance. I just went for it.”

Taylor stuck the landing, too. He was hanging in the net for a few moments afterward. It was picturesque, albeit a strange feeling.

“It was awkward being stuck in there,” Taylor said.

Taylor has often entered games as a defensive replacement this season, and lately center fielder Harrison Bader has greeted him with a message. After Taylor got out of the netting, he looked Bader’s way and read his lips.

“We're on the road, and the crowd's going crazy, and then he just says, ‘Welcome to the game,’” Taylor said. “So after I made the catch, he was like, ‘Welcome to the game.’”

Taylor said it the second time with emphasis, and a laugh, as he replicated Bader’s delivery.

Taylor’s catch led McNeil to go back and watch his own from 2019.

“I had no other choice but to get in the air,” McNeil said. “And for him, he had to go up and take it off the net. So both [are] pretty exciting catches.”

McNeil says his catch still reigns as No. 1. Which does Taylor think takes the crown?

“I'll agree with him,” Taylor said, laughing.