Tuesday was an interesting day for home run trots. At the MLB level, Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes did not step on first base after hitting a home run against Walker Buehler, and was called out. Take a great pitcher deep and lose the homer like that? Rough.
At the minor league level, Royals star prospect Bobby Witt Jr. slugged two home runs for the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals, or so he thought. Home plate umpire Chris Presley-Murphy ruled Witt did not step on home plate on the second homer, and he was called out after the Frisco RoughRiders (Rangers) appealed the play.
Here's the video of Witt's non-homer:
The camera angle isn't perfect, but Witt definitely stepped on home plate there, right? Here's a screen grab:
Yeah, I think Witt stepped on home plate. Either way, this is one of baseball's inane and unnecessary rules. If someone misses a base during a home run trot, who cares? There's no advantage to be gained and it's not an unfair play. Stepping on the bases isn't too much to ask, I know, but this seems overly petty.
Despite losing that home run, Witt did go deep earlier in the game, and he added a single later on as well. He went into Tuesday's game hitting .288/.351/.682 with eight home runs in his last 17 games. Our R.J. Anderson ranked Witt the No. 14 prospect in baseball before the season.