It turns out Jackie Bradley Jr. is human after all.
The Boston Red Sox outfielder is about as sure-handed with the glove as they come, which made his fielding blunder Thursday afternoon borderline unbelievable.
With the Red Sox trailing the Oakland Athletics by one in the fourth inning of the clubs’ series finale, Eduardo Rodriguez induced Stephen Piscotty to lift a deep but playable fly with two outs and runners on second and third. The ball wound up touching down on the warning track, though, as Bradley and Mookie Betts let it drop between the two of them. The mental error allowed both A’s runners to score and doomed the Sox in their eventual 7-3 loss.
While Betts had an equal opportunity as Bradley to make the play, JBJ shouldered all of the blame after the game.
“It’s on me,” Bradley said, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “The play’s gotta be made.
“I’m the leader out there. The play’s gotta be made. It’s a catchable ball. I’ve got to take control.”
The fielding gaffe was rather fitting amid Boston’s start to the season, as Thursday’s loss dropped the reigning World Series champions to 2-6 on the 2019 campaign. But there’s a whole lot of baseball left to be played, and it’s better to get the brain cramps out of the way now than commit them during the fall.
