This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell¡¯s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- As the Guardians were wrapping up their pregame defensive drills before first pitch on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park, Tyler Freeman requested to practice robbing homers.

¡°He always kind of finishes the round with trying to rob a homer. That¡¯s kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime thing,¡± Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan said. ¡°We¡¯re all kind of teasing him like, ¡®You¡¯re never gonna get it.¡¯¡±

But still, Freeman insisted.

Guardians outfield coach JT Maguire had to find the perfect distance to hit balls that would just barely get over the fence so that the new center fielder could practice something he had never tried in a game.

As his teammates playfully teased Freeman, Maguire walked up to him and said he had a feeling that Freeman would be tested against the wall later that night. In the first inning, his premonition came true.

The Reds jumped on the Guardians early, plating a run on a double to left field in the first inning. Cleveland needed to stop the momentum, but when Spencer Steer laced a ball to deep center field, it didn¡¯t look like the Guardians were going to escape.

That was, until Freeman made his first leaping catch against the fence in his young outfield career. He followed the ball to the warning track, and as he got one step away from the wall, he left his feet, made the grab and crashed against the padding.

¡°I thought the first catch was unbelievable, fighting the sun, going back,¡± Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.

But Freeman was going to be tested again.

He¡¯s been practicing robbing a home run. Yes, this was a catch at the wall, but it didn¡¯t look like it had the legs to get over the fence had he missed it.

In the ensuing at-bat, Jake Fraley hit a high fly ball to center field that Freeman had time to get under. Waiting for it to make its descent, Freeman timed out his leap perfectly so that he could reach his glove over the top of the wall and rob Fraley of a two-run shot, ending the inning.

¡°I mean, any time you rob a homer, it¡¯s sick. But those were both huge plays for us,¡± Vogt said. ¡°The game could¡¯ve gone way different had he not made those plays. Again, he just continues to get better and better every day out there.¡±

Statcast will tell you that the catch probability for those catches was 90 and 95 percent, respectively. But Kwan explained just how difficult both of those plays were, especially for someone like Freeman, who is still settling into the outfield.

¡°Just getting to the spot, being in an advantageous spot to do that,¡± Kwan said, ¡°but then to like time it up, get his feet in the right place, jump at the right time, all those things have to go perfectly. And if one thing doesn¡¯t, it¡¯s gonna be a home run or a double at least. He made it look effortless.¡±

Soon enough, we will no longer have to talk about Freeman¡¯s firsts in his new position. Each day, he¡¯s looking more and more like a natural outfielder. That¡¯s because of the work he puts in behind the scenes, like he did on Tuesday afternoon. And the more he practices each scenario that may arise, the more prepared he¡¯ll be, even if his teammates are poking fun at him.

¡°It¡¯s just crazy today he gets two of those,¡± Kwan said. ¡°He timed it up perfectly, he looked like a vet. The hard work paid off.¡±