With nice hops comes nice duty.
Red Sox prospect Will Turner submitted his entry for the catch of 2026 after scaling the fence of Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine, to make a wild house run theft on Saturday evening.
In the third inning of the Portland Sea Dogs’ Double-A recreation against the Reading Fightin Phils, left fielder Raider Tello despatched a deep fly ball to left-center subject that appeared destined to clear the wall.
Red Sox prospect Will Turner robs a house run. Minor League Baseball
Then, in a maneuver befitting of a Marvel movie, Turner raced to the warning observe, timed his leap completely and clung to the wall to make the jaw-dropping seize.
“I would say I’m a big Spider-Man guy,” Turner said postgame, per MLB.com. “Every time I do something like that, I just think of Bo Jackson when he ran on the wall for Kansas City.
“As a kid, I kind of did stuff like that growing up and I feel like it kind of just took me back a little bit, so it was really cool.”
A member of the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs this season, Turner was taken by the Red Sox in the seventh spherical of the 2024 MLB Draft. Minor League Baseball via Getty Images
Turner, who turns 24 next month, revealed that his dramatics had truly been years in the making.
Selected in the seventh spherical of the 2024 MLB Draft by Boston, the University of South Alabama product revealed that he has routinely practiced making house run robberies — to no avail until Saturday’s sparkler.
“Well, you know what’s crazy is I’ve actually — in college — attempted it a few times but I never caught one,” Turner added. “I would either mistime it or the ball would be a little too far. I practiced it a little bit and I feel like it was probably the perfect ball to do it on.”
Turner’s catch was in contrast to several other catches, including Athletics outfielder Denzel Clarke’s miraculous snag last season. Minor League Baseball
The catch drew rapid comparisons to other nice catches, most notably Athletics outfielder Denzel Clarke, who also did his finest Spider-Man impression last season.
Facing the Angels in Anaheim, Clarke pursued a deep flyball hit by Nolan Schanuel and, much like Turner, scaled the wall — and almost fell over to the other facet — as he came down with the ball.
While Turner’s .190 common at Double-A leaves a lot to be desired, he has registered a stable .375 on-base share to go with 14 homers and 32 RBIs.
But on Saturday evening, after going 1-for-3 at the plate in Portland’s 5-2 loss, it was Turner’s glove that put the highlight on him.
“That catch that Denzel Clarke made was unimaginable, and I was like, ‘That looks really cool, I’d love to do that,’ Turner said.
“And I made it happen tonight. So it was definitely a really special moment.”