Jose Siri just put together the most absurd 48 hours any baseball player has had in years. He robbed a grand slam Saturday. He hit one Sunday. The baseball gods picked a side.
The Angels outfielder was playing left field at Tropicana Field with the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning. Rays batter Taylor Walls hooked a first-pitch fastball toward the foul pole. Siri tracked it, jumped, and stole what would have been a grand slam against his former team.
The catch held the Angels’ deficit to 3-1 in a game they would eventually grind through.
Then He Did It Again, In Reverse
A day later, the same exact situation. Bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the third inning. This time Siri was at the plate, facing Rockies starter Kyle Freeland at Angel Stadium.
Siri took a 1-0 pitch deep to left field for a grand slam that cleared the fence with room to spare. He went from preventing a grand slam to delivering one in less than 24 hours.
“Jose Siri saved the buffet, and also a grand slam. Some heroes don’t wear capes,” Barstool Sports posted, referencing the chicken tenders that would have been ruined if the Walls homer had cleared.
Has Anyone Ever Done This Before?
The combination is so specific it almost certainly has never happened. You need a player to make a grand slam robbing catch and then hit a grand slam in the next game. The same player. Back to back days. With the same out count and inning.
Baseball has been played for 150 years. There are weird stat records for almost everything. This one might be a clean original.
The Siri Story Is Quietly Fun
Siri has bounced around. The Reds drafted him. The Rays got him. The Astros had him before that. Now he is in Anaheim trying to stick with the Angels and contributing in ways most fourth outfielders cannot match.
His defense in center field and the corners has always been his calling card. The bat is streaky. He strikes out at high rates. When he gets hot, he can carry an offense for a week at a time.
The Angels are not contending. They are not even pretending to contend. But Siri is the kind of player you keep around because he flashes the kind of plays you cannot teach.
The Angels Need Anything Positive
Mike Trout is healthy for now. Anthony Rendon is not. The Angels are hovering well below .500 and headed for another long summer. They are going to be sellers at the deadline, probably moving Tyler Anderson and anyone else with a flippable contract.
Siri is exactly the kind of role player a contender would love to add. His defense alone plays in any outfield. His ability to crush mistakes from the bottom of the order is a useful bench tool in October.
If a team comes calling for him before the August deadline, the Angels would probably listen. But for one weekend, he gave their fans the kind of two-day stretch that only happens in baseball.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
