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Cincinnati Reds rookie outfielder Tyler Callihan was removed from a Monday night game vs. the Atlanta Braves after breaking his forearm. The defender crashed into the wall while attempting to run down a fly ball.
Callihan initially made the catch before the ball dropped out of his glove. The play has the entire MLB split.
What is a catch?
The MLB rulebook defines a catch as follows:
A catch is the act of a fielder in getting secure possession in his hand or glove of a ball in flight and firmly holding it; providing he does not use his cap, protector, pocket or any other part of his uniform in getting possession. It is not a catch, however, if simultaneously or immediately following his contact with the ball, he collides with a player, or with a wall, or if he falls down, and as a result of such collision or falling, drops the ball. It is not a catch if a fielder touches a fly ball which then hits a member of the offensive team or an umpire and then is caught by another defensive player. In establishing the validity of the catch, the fielder shall hold the ball long enough to prove that he has complete control of the ball and that his release of the ball is voluntary and intentional. If the fielder has made the catch and drops the ball while in the act of making a throw following the catch, the ball shall be adjudged to have been caught.
There are key factors that need to be met in order to successfully record a catch. Those include securing the ball, maintaining possession through contact, holding the ball long enough to prove complete possession, and maybe the most important factor in Tyler Callihan’s case, proving the release is voluntary and intentional.
Those aspects can largely come down to umpire judgement. Each came into play for Callihan.
Did Tyler Callihan meet those requirements?
Let’s break the play down. Atlanta’s Matt Olson smacked a fly ball down the left field line which Callihan successfully tracked down. He clearly gained possession of the ball, meeting one requirement of the catch rule.
He then hit the wall after taking two steps, maintaining possession before falling to the ground. Requirement 2, met.
Here’s where it gets tricky. The ball rolls out of Callihan’s glove as he laid on the ground in pain. It’s unclear whether or not that release was voluntary.
One could argue that he’d held the ball long enough to prove possession before purposely releasing in order to tend to his broken arm. Others could say that the drop came unintentionally as a direct result contact with the wall.
The play happened fast. Umpires ruled no-catch, which allowed Olson to round the bases for an inside-the-park home run. MLB viewers were divided on that decision.
“How is this not a catch?” one popular baseball account asked on X. “I feel like we’re collectively being gaslit about that Tyler Callihan play,” said another.
Others disagreed. “It’s not a catch by the letter of the law,” wrote one social media user while another added, “You can’t change the rules for injuries.”
A notable portion of viewers saw both sides of the argument.
I really struggle with this Callihan play. Listen I get it, he didn’t pull the ball out of his glove on his own account.
But man, he got two feet down, knee down, and then hit the wall and STILL held on until he realized his forearm was fractured.
FIO, @MLB. Have some feel.
— Tyler Eaton (@tyeaton5) May 6, 2025
In the end, Tyler Callihan was not given the catch. The play resulted in a broken arm and an Atlanta Braves home run. Hopefully, the outfielder can make a speedy recovery as he’d just been called up to the MLB last week.
Across his first four games, he his .167 while recording an RBI.