Just a few months back in March, San Diego Padres’ Jackson Merrill had a highlight performance against the Detroit Tigers, as he leaped at the wall in deep center field to rob Kevin McGonigle of a 403-foot would-be home run. Then, it became a casual defensive play for him, recording 4 such moves. But on Sunday, that focus shifted; we have probably witnessed what most reports and even announcers are calling “The Catch of the Year, baby!” by none other than Washington Nationals’ Jacob Young.

“He can make every catch.” Jackson Kent echoed what everyone was thinking about Jacob Young and his Spider-Man-like tendencies. In July 2025, Young climbed the center field wall and leaped perfectly in time to rob Riley Greene of a home run. A year later, the 27-year-old center fielder is still robbing opponents of extra-base hits.

On Sunday, the Miami Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals, with a 6-2 win. But while the Nationals’ offense struggled, Jacob Young gave his all to prevent runs.

The Nats were trailing 0-1 in the third when Heriberto Hernández launched an 86 mph slider off Jackson Kent deep to left-center field. The bat speed was recorded at 105.7 mph, traveling a Statcast-projected 405 feet. It could’ve either been a homer or at least an extra-base hit.

But when has a wall stopped Young?

As the ball traveled towards the left-center field wall, Young scaled it thrice while running towards it. He then leveraged himself on the protective fencing over the electronic advertising board and made the stunning catch. It is possible that he climbed the supposed 386-foot loanDepot Park wall to snag the ball right on time.

Young had already tracked the ball for 93 feet when it reached the wall. Kent was in disbelief as cameras showed him pointing towards Young.

“I’m not worried whenever a ball goes over there, I’m like, ‘He’s gonna make it,’” Kent shared with MLB.com.

Talkin’ Baseball posted a clip of Young’s incredible effort on X.

“Nationals Jacob Young climbs the wall like Spider-Man for the ‘catch of the year,’ wrote Talkin’ Baseball on X.

Young did not stop after robbing Hernández of his extra-base hit.

After securing the ball, he threw it to the infielders. Otto Lopez, who did not make any effort to stay near first base, became the final out of the inning. Lopez had reached base after Kent gave up a leadoff walk during his at-bat. There was more.

Jacob Young recorded the first out of the inning, catching a fly ball from Agustín Ramírez.

He is one of the 5 best center fielders in MLB this season, joining the exclusive club of Pete Crow-Armstrong, Daulton Varsho, Brenton Doyle, and Ceddanne Rafaela. With 12 Outs Above Average, Young ranks third at his position and fourth with a 7.6 Defensive WAR.

After Young’s incredible effort, manager Blake Butera expressed his appreciation.

“Unbelievable play. It was huge for us, right?” Blake Butera said, per MLB.com.

“In the game where it was right there, that would have been a two-run homer. It was an unbelievable catch. He does it day in and day out. Just really impressive.”

Even though the Nats lost the game, closing their 1-8 road trip, Young feels such catches can begin to spark the offense.

“It definitely is part of it. If you’re not scoring too many runs, try to take away as many as possible,” noted Jacob.

Right after Young’s incredible catch, Dylan Crews recorded an RBI double in the top of the 4th. And in the sixth inning, Jorbit Vivas added another RBI double, and Keibert Ruiz scored from first base. Those were the only two runs Washington could record, and both came after Young’s catch.

Young acknowledged the fact:

“Anything kind of gives a spark.”

But outfielders have been climbing walls lately. Per broader data on home run robberies tracked by ESPN and Sports Info Solutions, roughly 50 to 80 total home run robbery catches happen across Major League Baseball (MLB), where wall-climbing roughly happens around 5 to 10 times.

Last Wednesday, Brandon Marsh stunned fans at Citizens Bank Park with a wall-climbing catch. On a pop fly from Xavier Edwards, the 6’2″, 215-pound Marsh climbed halfway up the wall and stretched his gloved hand even more to grab the ball. It was a spectacular display of athleticism, and Young has mastered it.

“They’re instinctual. Most things, everything’s happening so fast out there … [I just] go try to catch everything,” the outfielder explained his process.

Jacob Young might have recorded the 2026 Catch of the Year on Sunday. And even the opposing manager did not hesitate to express his awe at the play.

Clayton McCullough praises Jacob Young

Jacob Young tracked the ball, climbed the wall, stretched, and even had the presence of mind to throw it to the infielders for the double. The third inning was entertaining, to say the least, and possibly showcased one of the best plays this season. The Marlins’ manager Clayton McCullough was thoroughly entertained.

“One of the best catches I’ve ever seen live,” McCullough said, per MLB.com.

“I really couldn’t even see it because of the videoboard back there. You just see this guy jump up, and next thing, he’s throwing the ball back in.”

“It was like Otis Nixon from the early ’90s, with the Braves, when he went into right-center and made a play to scale that wall. [Young’s] a phenomenal defender, and we get to unfortunately see him make a lot of those plays.”

In 1992, Atlanta Braves center fielder Otis Nixon robbed the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Andy Van Slyke of a ninth-inning home run at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Racing back on a deep drive, Nixon planted his left foot directly onto the wall and leaped to pull the ball back, preserving a 1-0 win.

But on Sunday, Young’s robbery was not enough to prevent a series sweep.

The Nationals starter, Jackson Kent, gave up 3 earned runs in 4.2 innings. In the bottom of the fifth, the Marlins broke a 1-1 tie with a single from Edwards, which drove in Lopez and Ramirez. In the next frame, they extended the lead with an RBI double from Mack. Conine scored another run on a sacrifice fly from Lopez. Mack also drove in the winning runs in the eighth inning.

The Marlins now hold a 67-64 record and are 4.0 games behind the final NL Wild Card spot. They play the Boston Red Sox next.

Despite the loss, seeing Spider-Man on the field did induce a spark, as the man himself enjoyed every bit of it, and we will definitely see more of it in the coming days. Here’s why:

“It just kind of ended up in the spot where I like to climb them. And I’m gonna give myself a chance. And when I looked up, the ball was there, so it was cool to be able to get [Jackson] a couple more innings and keep us in the game,” shared Jacob Young.