Inside The Mets

Mets' New Trade Acquisition Turned Heads With This Viral Play in Winter League

New York Mets outfielder Jose Siri accomplished what might be the craziest stolen base you've ever seen on Sunday.

Grant Young

Sep 19, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Jose Siri (22) slides into third base against the Boston Red Sox in the third inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Sep 19, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Jose Siri (22) slides into third base against the Boston Red Sox in the third inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
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While the MLB is in the midst of its offseason, some New York Mets players are still seeing regular action on the field this winter.

One of these players is Jose Siri, who the Mets acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league pitcher Eric Orze on November 19.

Siri is currently playing games in the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League (LIDOM), which is often referred to as the Winter League. And he went extremely viral on December 15 for what might be the craziest stolen base you've ever seen.

Siri stole third base in the 5th inning of a Winter League game. While he was safe by a wide margin, he actually slid past the base entirely. Over-sliding in this way typically leaves baserunners out to dry, as they're easily tagged. But Siri managed to get up quickly enough to evade the immediate tag and take a looping trajectory toward home plate, all while the third baseman was chasing him with the ball.

The third baseman then tossed it to the catcher who was awaiting Siri's arrival. Once the catcher caught the ball and went for the tag, Siri juked him out before diving headfirst into home plate safely.

MLB's X account posted a video of this extraordinary baserunning play with the caption, "Jose Siri with one of the craziest steals you'll ever see in a LIDOM game 😳".

The post already has over 1.7 million views in less than 24 hours.

While Siri has hit a combined 43 home runs in the past two MLB seasons for the Tampa Bay Rays, his otherworldly athleticism and baserunning ability — which is displayed by this viral play — will likely be his biggest asset for the Mets in 2025.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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