Juan Lagares returns to 2014 form with highlight-reel catch

1:00 AM ET

PHILADELPHIA — Center fielder Juan Lagares is back to his 2014 Gold Glove form.

Inserted late in Tuesday’s 11-1 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies, Lagares reached over the center-field wall at Citizens Bank Park to take back a would-be two-run homer from Maikel Franco in the eighth inning. For Lagares, it was shades of 2014, when he was named the National League’s top center fielder.

“If there’s a better catch so far in baseball than that one, I haven’t seen it,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “On a dead run, a dead fly, to go up against that fence to make that, we get spoiled watching it. But that’s what we saw two years ago. And that’s why he’s got a Gold Glove sitting on his mantel.”

Lagares now has three homer-stealing catches in his career. He robbed Jayson Werth in 2014 and Jay Bruce in 2015.

Juan Lagares showed off his Gold Glove-winning defense late in Tuesday’s game against Philadelphia, robbing Maikel Franco of a two-run homer. AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Last year, indisputably, was a down year for Lagares, however.

With his elbow compromised, he no longer accumulated gaudy outfield assist …

continue reading in source espn.go.com