Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor had to leave Sunday’s game against the Giants in the eighth inning after he collided face first against the wall attempting to make the catch.
But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sure had an odd response to the play: He decided to completely waste his challenge.
With two outs in the inning, Mike Yastrzemski drove a fly ball to deep left field. Taylor had to track the ball towards the warning track while battling the sun, and it ended with the ball deflecting off his glove. As he tried to make another attempt at the ball, Taylor’s momentum drove him right into the wall. It was clear he didn’t make the catch. He didn’t even come close.
Chris Taylor with an absolutely brutal collision with the wall pic.twitter.com/muVjKDi1Vb
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) June 12, 2022
Taylor came up bloody on the play (presumably from his sunglasses) and left the game.
Yet, the broadcast was stunned when umpire Chris Conroy announced that the Dodgers were challenging the ruling of no catch. In Roberts’ mind, Taylor must have caught the ball on the second effort and lost it after the collision. But we can clearly see that the ball hit the wall before Taylor even had a chance at making the painful second effort. In a 2-0 ballgame, the wasted challenge could have been huge.
The call was quickly confirmed, and fans couldn’t believe Roberts actually challenged the play.