Jhonkensy Noel Uncorks Surreal Throw And Homers In Losing Effort

The Cleveland Guardians played two games against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

The Sox are a highly competitive team and every win counts for Cleveland, so the stakes were high from the start.

They took the matinee but fell 7-3 in the second one as Boston was able to even the series.

With the Guardians down 6-3 in the top of the fifth, right fielder Jhonkensy Noel made an impressive defensive play to potentially save some runs.

Kristian Campbell opened the inning with a single.

Then, Carlos Narváez hit a screaming liner to right field, where Noel was perfectly positioned to make the play.

He caught the ball, but that wasn’t all.

His feet weren’t even set to make a strong, competitive throw, but he did anyway, out of the sheer strength of his arm.

“Jhonkensy Noel uncorked an 88.5 mph rope here to turn a double play. That’s his hardest throw this season,” Guardians insider Tim Stebbins posted on X with a clip of the phenomenal play.

Jhonkensy Noel uncorked an 88.5 mph rope here to turn a double play. That's his hardest throw this season. pic.twitter.com/HjnfYVAo5E

— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) April 26, 2025

The potent throw caught Campbell off guard and he was doubled off third base.

It was a strong line drive, the kind that could have found the gap and given Boston another run.

It found Noel’s glove instead, and Cleveland was fortunate to get two outs on the play.

Noel hasn’t been producing much offensively this year, but he also belted his first home run of the season on Saturday.

He went 1-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored, and a strikeout.

His season line is .174/.204/.261.

He is much better than that, and Cleveland hopes this game can kickstart his season.