The Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals battled it out in a heated five-game series this week. This series had its fair share of ups and downs for both teams, but it ended in the worst way possible for the Reds.
With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, the Reds clung to a 5-4 lead. JJ Wetherholt hit a fly ball to left-center field that would presumably be caught by left fielder TJ Friedl , but Friedl appeared to battle the sun until center fielder Dane Myers came flying into the picture, called Friedl off, before dropping the fly ball and, giving the Cardinals the lead.
The Reds would go on to lose the game after having the victory in their grasp. Shortly after the game, former Reds outfielder Tommy Pham made a bit of a shocking claim on X.
Aug 20, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds outfielder Dane Myers (17) catches a fly out hit by St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Blaze Jordan (not pictured) in the ninth inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
"What's going on is we have cf's today who know the value of stealing catches to help their ooa numbers go up bcuz it improves your war so you have this, a game that is lost bcuz the cf didn't want the lf to catch the ball bcuz he wanted the points," Pham wrote in a post to X after Myers' dropped fly ball against the Cardinals.
Let's dive deeper into this claim.
Basically, what Pham is saying is that Myers and other center fielders will call off corner outfielders in order to "steal" catches and boost their outs above average, as the defenders with higher outs above average will land bigger contracts.
Each fly ball has a catch probability for each player. The way that outs above average are calculated takes into consideration the catch probability and whether or not the player made the catch. For example, if a fly ball is hit with a 50 percent catch probability and Myers makes the play, he will be credited with +.5 OAA. "Stealing" catches from corner outfielders would be an easy way to boost the OAA.
But this play doesn't seem to have anything to do with that.
Friedl was battling the sun and appeared to have a beat on the ball, but Myers was calling it early. As a result, he was seemingly worried about getting to the ball rather than whether Friedl was there to make the play. Left field is notoriously tough with the sun at Great American Ballpark for day games.
This is an unfortunate play that resulted in a Reds loss, but it's hard to imagine that Myers was thinking about boosting his OAA rather than winning the game.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/reds/onsi as Ex-Red Tommy Pham Takes Shot at Dane Myers After Game-Losing Play .
