St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer Delvin Pérez did not hit a home run in the sixth inning on Thursday. That was news to Delvin Pérez.
Facing the Atlanta Braves-affiliated Gwinnett Stripers in Triple-A, Pérez crushed a ball to left field that, on most nights, would usually be a home run. It had the exit velocity, it had the hang time, it had the sound. Those watching had every reason to be surprised when the wind knocked the ball down and it fell into the glove of Stripers left-fielder Justyn-Henry Malloy.
Unfortunately, that group did not include Pérez, whom replay showed staring at the ball for a few seconds before concluding he had gone yard, flipped his bat and turned his head down to start running the bases.
He didn’t seem to realize he was out until after he had rounded third base, when his dugout gave him the bad news. Pérez stopped just short of home plate before raising his arms in shock.
Absolutely brutal.
It has been a tough season overall for Pérez, who made top-100 prospect lists back in 2017 after he was drafted, but has since struggled in his journey to the big leagues. The 23-year-old entered Thursday hitting .226/.319/.319 with five homers in 93 games between Memphis and Double-A Springfield.