Grandal Drops the Mic & the Best Bat Flips of Week 3

Another week of baseball is in the books, as we saw another week of sky-high bat flips from across the league. There were enough grand slams, walk-off bombs, and back-to-back blasts to make John Smoltz cry, as the best hitters from MLB upped the ante this week to deliver even more mind-blowing bat flips and drops. And deliver, they did.

So get your coffee, get settled in, and get ready for the best home run celebrations of MLB’s third week. Enjoy!

 

5. Javier Báez vs. Trevor Hildenberger

 

https://gfycat.com/eachmeekilladopsis

4/21/2021 — NYM @ CHC

395ft, 103.9 mph, 29º launch angle

There’s a lot of swing-and-miss in Javy Báez’s game these days, but when he hits, he hits. Case in point: this absolute moonshot off of Trevor Hildenberger to clear the bases for a grand slam. A dual threat in both bat flips and drops, Javy opts for the latter here, a subtle emphasis on a towering blast. Well done.

Style: 8

Drop: 8

Strut: 8.5

 

4. Starling Marte vs. Wandy Peralta

 

https://gfycat.com/indelibleelaboratekiskadee

4/16/2021 — SF @ MIA

427ft, 107.6 mph, 31º launch angle

Starling Marte found the deep part of Marlins Park (or whatever corporate name it has now) last week, as he obliterated this high cheese from the Giants’ Wandy Peralta. You just have to love it when a guy hits it so hard that he knows it’s even leaving the Costco that is Miami’s home ballpark, and Marte clearly knew it here. His cooler-than-cool strut out of the box sent the message that Marte is not the kind of guy you can get away with blowing high fastballs by, and I doubt Peralta makes that mistake again.

Style: 8

Rotation: 90º

Flair: 9

 

3. Yasmani Grandal vs. Cal Quantrill

 

https://gfycat.com/brokengeneralcrocodileskink

4/20/2021 — CWS @ CLE

387ft, 106.0 mph, 32º launch angle

For those that are unfamiliar, Yasmani Grandal is something of a veteran of the Best Bat Flip series, as he made the list multiple times last year for his resounding bat drops. In case you missed out, don’t worry, because Grandal is back with a vintage home run here in week 3 against Cleveland’s Cal Quantrill. It checks all of the classic Grandal boxes: moonshot home run, effortless bat drop, and a quick stare at the ball he just sent out of Ohio. It is undoubtedly one of many more to follow this year, so keep an eye out for more Grandal bat drops in the future. Very few players can do them better.

Style: 8.5

Drop: 8.5

Grace: 9

 

2. Adolis García vs. Mike Mayers

 

https://gfycat.com/oblongheartfeltbighorn

4/21/2021 — TEX @ LAA

411ft, 104.5 mph, 34º launch angle

If you’re like me and haven’t been watching a ton of Rangers games lately (can’t really blame you, either), you may be unfamiliar with the name Adolis García. Well, allow him to introduce himself. García gets all of this grooved fastball and cranks it deep out to center, beyond even the superhuman reach of Mike Trout. If you watched this live, you may not have initially known what García understood when the ball left his bat: that baseball was crushed. Being a helpful guy, García did us the favor of tipping us off with a chaotic bat flip down the line almost mid-backswing. The result is an arcing bolt of a barrel tumbling into the dirt, while García hops along, barely able to control his excitement. Us too, Adolis, us too.

Style: 9

Rotation: 180º

Making it through this blurb without a Mike Myers joke: Groovy, baby!

 

1. Justin Upton vs. Caleb Thielbar

 

https://gfycat.com/organicgreedybandicoot

4/16/2021 — MIN @ LAA

410ft, 105.9 mph, 29º launch angle

The second of two grand slams to make this week’s list, Justin Upton went off on poor Caleb Thielbar, who (to my knowledge) did absolutely nothing to deserve this filthy bat drop (aside from walking Mike Trout). Upton reminded us all that he’s still got something left in the tank as he broke this game wide open for the Halos, and all anybody could do was watch as the ball cleared the fence by a good twenty feet. And watch Upton did, delivering one of the coldest bat drops of the season before striding down the line like an action hero. Sometimes, the cool guys do look at the explosions.

Style: 9

Drop: 9

Expression: Unsurprised

 

That will do it for this week’s best bat flips from around the league. We are just three weeks down with many more to go, so be sure to keep it locked here at Pitcher List for all of your bat flip-related content. See you next week!

 

Photo by Dustin Ian D’Andrea/Flickr | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)