Stanton rips his hardest-hit homer since '18
This browser does not support the video element.
Speaking about the potency of the Yankees¡¯ lineup, Giancarlo Stanton once remarked that he would ¡°feel sorry for the baseballs.¡± That has certainly held true early this season, as the designated hitter has put on an impressive power display in the nation¡¯s capital.
Stanton homered for the second time in as many games in Saturday¡¯s 9-2 Yankees loss, mashing a solo homer off the Nationals¡¯ Erick Fedde that was projected by Statcast to have traveled 483 feet.
¡°It's a good couple of nights,¡± said Stanton, who also mashed a 459-foot homer off Max Scherzer on Opening Night. ¡°I feel locked in and have a good approach. I've got to continue that.¡±
This browser does not support the video element.
Saturday¡¯s homer came off Stanton¡¯s bat at 121.3 mph, making it the second-hardest homer hit since the tracking system was installed in 2015. The drive cleared the bullpen in left-center field and trimmed Washington¡¯s lead to 3-2 at the time.
Stanton also owns the hardest-hit homer in Statcast history, a blast off the Rangers¡¯ Ariel Jurado that had a 121.7 mph exit velocity on Aug. 9, 2018, at Yankee Stadium.
¡°He looks great,¡± Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. ¡°I feel like he's just in such a good frame of mind. I think he feels great physically. He's putting together a really good game plan and getting himself into some good counts. ¡ He gets the 3-0 pitch and hits it about as hard as you possibly can.¡±
Saturday¡¯s 483-foot homer was Stanton¡¯s longest as a Yankee, and his second-longest all-time, trailing a 504-footer that he clobbered at Coors Field on Aug. 6, 2016, off the Rockies¡¯ Chad Bettis while with the Marlins.
The top 10 hardest-hit homers since Statcast started tracking have all been hit by either Stanton or teammate Aaron Judge.
? Here are the hardest-hit home runs in MLB
The 30-year-old Stanton was limited to just 18 games last season by various injuries. He has now hit a Major League-leading 83 home runs with an exit velocity of 110 mph or more since 2015; Nelson Cruz is second with 55.
¡°I¡¯m really excited about where he's at right now,¡± Boone said.