Statcast's hardest hit balls highest exit velocities

Not all batted balls are created equal.

While some Major League hitters can pull off slowly hit, perfectly placed doubles, others rip scorching line drives only to see them find gloves.

Most of the hardest-hit balls since Statcast tracking began in 2015 ended up as base hits, but there are plenty of sharp grounders or sizzling liners on the list, too.

So, 10 seasons into the Statcast Era, let��s take a look at the system's hardest-hit ball in each category -- singles, doubles, triples, homers, groundouts and balls in the air.

Hardest-hit ball/base hit: 122.4 mph
Oneil Cruz (PIT), Aug. 24, 2022, vs. ATL

How was the hardest-hit ball tracked by Statcast only a single? Unfortunately for Cruz, he hit it TOO hard -- right off a ribbon board near the very top of the right-field wall at PNC Park. Ronald Acu?a Jr. read the ball perfectly and kept Cruz to a very hard-hit single. Known for his speed and rocket arm, Cruz also regularly reaches the top of exit velocity leaderboards, owning five of the top 20 exit velocities on all tracked batted balls. Full leaderboard >>

Hardest-hit home run: 121.7 mph
Giancarlo Stanton (NYY), Aug. 9, 2018, vs. TEX

This smash of a homer came in Stanton��s first year with the Yankees following a trade from the Marlins. Finding a sinker down and in to his liking, the slugger absolutely turned on it for a 449-foot blast into the left-field stands that got out in a flash. (Pity the fans in the area trying to snag -- or merely deflect -- the scorching liner.) At 121.7 mph, Stanton��s homer is the fastest tracked by Statcast, just ahead of ... his own 121.3 mph, 483-foot shot in D.C. in 2020. Full leaderboard >>

Every team's hardest-hit home run

Hardest-hit out/double play ball: 122.2 mph
Stanton, Aug. 9, 2021, at KC

Talk about bad luck. Only two players (Stanton and Cruz) have hit balls tracked at 122.2 mph or faster, and for such a hard-hit ball to turn into a double play requires some misfortune. Stanton found out the hard way at Kauffman Stadium when Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield snagged the sizzling one-hopper off the side of the pitcher��s mound and started a 4-6-3 twin killing. It was a considerably different fate than Stanton��s previous 122.2 mph result while with the Marlins in 2017 -- a remarkably similar batted ball that beat the shift for a single. Full leaderboard >>

Hardest-hit out in the air: 121.1 mph
Gary S��nchez (NYY), June 19, 2018, vs. SEA

Except for its exit velocity, there wasn��t much remarkable about S��nchez��s lineout to left field in the fourth inning of a 1-1 game against the Mariners at Yankee Stadium. ��Can��t hit it harder than that,�� declared Yankees play-by-play broadcaster Michael Kay, who wasn��t really wrong: The 121.1 mph liner remains the hardest-hit tracked batted ball in the air. Second would be a 119.5 mph screamer from Stanton that hit -- and broke -- the foot of Tigers pitcher Matt Manning in 2023. Full leaderboard >>

Hardest-hit double: 121.5 mph
Cruz, May 21, 2024, vs. SF

The record-setting double was just part of a historic game for Cruz, who began his night against the Giants with a 120.4 mph single in the first inning and added a 116.5 mph double in the third. But it was Cruz��s third and final hit -- a two-out, tying double in the bottom of the ninth -- that stands as the hardest-hit double tracked by Statcast. In fact, it was probably hit too hard to allow Bryan Reynolds to score the winning run from first, but the Pirates walked it off in the 10th anyway. Full leaderboard >>

Hardest-hit triple: 117.2 mph
Christian Yelich (MIL), July 24, 2022, vs. COL

Since they typically require a fortunate bounce or a slow roll to the wall, triples don��t typically have very high exit velocities. Only two three-baggers tracked by Statcast have been clocked at 115+ mph, including Yelich��s leadoff triple against the Rockies in 2022 in Milwaukee. Even that hit snuck under the glove of right fielder Connor Joe, who injured himself on the dive but managed to get up in time to corral the ball and keep Yelich from heading to the plate. Full leaderboard >>