MLB: Meet the Nats’ new ‘center fielder’ and he’s not human

When the Washington Nationals took to the field in the top of the ninth inning in their 7-5 slate loss Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies, a tenth man joined them. Well, something like that.

Between entries, a praying mantis climbed on Victor Robles hat. Maybe he knew or maybe no one told him he had a hitchhiker. Either way, the mantis wouldn’t go anywhere:

When Robles sprinted into center field for the ninth, the bug hovered on top of his cap, gaining a sight that many fans would envy. Robles even made sure the mantis, who had moved to the brim of his cap, knew how many outs were in the inning at any given time.

Unfortunately, it may have been a rally mistake … for the wrong team. The Phillies joked that it was their “rally mantis” on Twitter, assuming the outfield error was cheering them up and helping them score five runs in the ninth.

While the bug became the topic of conversation at Nationals Park, it didn’t steal the show like another animal at Yankee Stadium. Baseball Twitter had not only a concentration mantis on Monday, but also an MVP cat, who ran onto the field, stopping the Orioles-Yankees game amid a chorus of “MVP” chants:

The cat was eventually captured and taken out of the field, but the herding mantis lived to see another day. The bug jumped out of Robles’ cap sometime in the ninth and ran away.

When an animal runs onto the field during a game, the first thought is always: “How did it get here?”

It may interest you: Victor Robles is also isolated in Nationals under the Coronavirus protocol

However, for the rally mantis, it looks like it may be the newest generation of mantis from Natinals Park. In 2018, Erick Fedde made a friend during the national anthem. Who knows, maybe the Robles mantis is the newest in a long line of mantises from the Washington Nationals.

Rafael Martinez

I am fond of the King of Sports, especially the Boston Red Sox in MLB and in general all of Mexican baseball. This profession has given me the opportunity to cover major events such as the Caribbean Series, LMB All Star, LMP (uninterrupted since 2009), signings of important players. I had the chance to attend the 2013 World Classic in Arizona, USA, albeit as a fan. Apart from this beautiful sport, I love basketball, where I have also narrated games and even an NBA friendly 10 years ago, but I carry baseball in my veins. Bachelor of Communication Sciences from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) , from which I graduated in 2011. I was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa and started in the world of sports journalism in 2004 in the newspaper El Sol de Mazatlán, where I was a baseball columnist and reporter at the same time. In January 2009 I came to El Debate as a journalist reporter and it was almost six years (in the first stage), until in November 2014 I emigrated to the radio providing my services in Línea Directa-Grupo RSN. My cycle there ended in July 2019 and after a few days, El Debate gave me another opportunity to work and opened the doors for me again. That is how I came to Al Bat, where I have been since 2019 as a web journalist.

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