119.9 mph! Stanton's huge HR the hardest hit in MLB this year

NEW YORK -- Two days, two monster Stantonian blasts at Yankee Stadium. And the second one was even bigger than the first.

The 118.8 mph rocket home run Giancarlo Stanton crushed off Justin Verlander in Tuesday's series opener against the Astros was the hardest-hit home run of the MLB season … for exactly one day.

Because on Wednesday, Stanton hit one even harder: A 119.9 mph, 447-foot blast into the second deck down the left-field line in the third inning of the Yankees' 9-4 win. The solo shot off Astros rookie Spencer Arrighetti increased the Yankees' lead to 5-1.

"G, how hard he hits the ball, it's just amazing," teammate Juan Soto said after the game. "You don't see guys hitting balls 120 every day."

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Aaron Judge, when told Stanton's latest home run was the new hardest of 2024, could only laugh.

"I felt like the night before he had the hardest hit in baseball," Judge said. "And then he outdid himself again tonight. Just impressive."

It's the type of home run only the likes of Stanton and Judge can hit. Stanton's 119.9 mph homer is the fifth-hardest home run in the Majors since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

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Stanton has three of the top five. Judge has one, too. And Ronald Acu?a Jr. has the other.

Hardest HR of the Statcast era (since 2015)

1. Giancarlo Stanton: 121.7 mph -- Aug. 9, 2018 vs. TEX
2. Giancarlo Stanton: 121.3 mph -- July 25, 2020 vs. WSH
3. Ronald Acu?a Jr.: 121.2 mph -- Sept. 2, 2023 vs. LAD
4. Aaron Judge: 121.1 mph -- June 10, 2017 vs. BAL
5. Giancarlo Stanton: 119.9 mph -- May 8, 2024 vs. HOU

And Stanton's 118.8 mph homer from Tuesday? That's now a mere 13th on the list.

But here's a cool fun fact about Stanton's pair of missiles: He's one of only two players in the Statcast era to hit 118-plus mph home runs on back-to-back days. The other? Judge.

The day after Judge ripped his 121.1 mph home run against Baltimore in 2017 -- the one that ranks fourth on the Statcast-era leaderboard -- he crushed a 118.6 mph, 495-foot blast that went over the left-center-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium.

Stanton's home run wasn't the only big blast the Yankees hit on Wednesday. Judge homered, too, a 106.4 mph, 404-foot shot to the right-field porch. So did Soto, with a 113.4 mph, 440-foot opposite-field rocket off the facade of the bullpen in left-center.

But even Yankees manager Aaron Boone had to admit that Stanton's homer took the cake.

"You know what?" Boone said. "I think if you hit one 120, you win."