Yan Celebrates Strikeout Too Early Before Ball Crossed Plate

New York Mets supporters are obsessed with Jefry Yan's wild acrobatic move whenever he records a strikeout in relief, turning his actions into a viral social media hit. Yet Yan pushed things too far on Saturday afternoon during the team's exciting walk-off victory against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field by performing that signature celebration before the final out was recorded. The pitch never crossed the plate as a third strike because the home plate umpire did not call it.

Yan stepped onto the mound for his Citi Field debut before the home crowd and faced Nasim Nuñez in the top of the ninth inning with two outs and a 0-2 count on the batter. He believed he placed his fastball perfectly along the outside corner to end the frame, but the umpire disagreed while Yan was already leaping into the air for his routine jump. The rookie pitcher seemed to have springs in his feet as he launched himself high above the dirt before noticing that strike three had not been called.

Once he landed back on the mound, he began tapping the top of his hat to challenge the call, which forced an instant ABS review from officials. After checking the footage, the umpire upheld the original decision and ruled it a ball instead of a strike. Gary Cohen, a longtime play-by-play announcer for the Mets, laughed during the SNY broadcast by saying that moment was truly funny once everyone settled down. Yan quickly ensured his celebration would not haunt him later by getting Nuñez to strike out on a slider just two pitches after the review concluded.

The situation grew tense when the Mets trailed by one run heading into the bottom of the ninth inning and needed at least one run to force extra innings or end the game in their favor. Brett Baty walked to start the frame, then Jorge Polanco singled to load the bases for the winning run. Francisco Alvarez drove a double toward left field that tied the score while sending Baty across home plate with runners advancing. Francisco Lindor delivered the final blow by singling home the decisive run to walk it off and seal the win for his teammates at Citi Field.

In doing so, Yan earned his first career victory in Major League Baseball after pitching a scoreless 1.2 innings for the Mets throughout the game. The twenty-nine-year-old rookie has enjoyed quite a year that started in the minor leagues where fans first learned of his unique jumping celebration before seeing it across his first five appearances with New York. Perhaps he will make sure an umpire confirms the call before tapping his hat again whenever he wants to jump and celebrate on home field turf. He really hoped to perform this move with thousands of Mets fans cheering in the stands behind him.

Yan told reporters through a translator that he felt very welcome during his first appearance at Citi Field after striking out three hitters in his outing on Saturday night. The young pitcher currently owns an ERA of 1.80 thus far as the team celebrates their thrilling comeback win over Washington.