479 feet?! Astros prospect demolishes longest Majors/Minors HR in '24
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Pedro León was already having the best season of his Minor League career for Triple-A Sugar Land, but one swing of the bat has made his hot start much more impressive.
The Astros’ No. 27 prospect needed to see just two pitches in his at-bat in the top of the fourth of Saturday's 8-3 win over Reno in order to get the one he liked. The Cuban got the perfect offering, a fastball down the middle of the plate from Aces righty Chris Ellis.
The sound echoed through Greater Nevada Field. The crowd audibly gasped. There was no question the ball was gone when it left León’s bat with a 113.8 mph exit velocity. But how far would it go?
When it was all said and done, the ball sailed 479 feet to left field per Statcast, the longest dinger of the season at either the Major League or any of the Minor League levels (just Triple-A and the Single-A Florida State League are equipped with Statcast technology). The previous Minors high came from Adrian Del Castillo (Reno, 474 feet) on April 6 and Mike Trout (Los Angeles, 473 feet) still holds the big league lead.
The 25-year-old continued his hot streak by adding an RBI single in the eighth and swiping three bags for the Space Cowboys.
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Few players can say they've ever hit a ball 479 feet, so surely that would be far and away the longest home run of León’s career, right? Not quite. Last season, he crushed a 477-foot blast at Las Vegas Ballpark.
It’s a testament to the developing power in León's game. The now full-time outfielder has delivered back-to-back seasons with at least 17 home runs, and recorded a career-high 21 last year. Having pop in his bat is one of the many reasons why the Astros awarded León, then the No. 6 international prospect, $4 million to sign with the team in January 2021. (Current Brewers center fielder and MLB Pipeline's No. 2 overall prospect Jackson Chourio was also a part of that class.)
There’s no doubt that when León hits the ball, he is going to the damage. But making contact has been an issue. He’s spent the past three seasons in Triple-A, unable to rack up a batting average north of .244 and has struck out a combined 305 times over the past two seasons. While punchouts remain a concern, he is slashing .313/.383/.500 through 23 games this year and 12 of his 30 hits have gone for extra bases.
The Astros have a well-known lineage of developing international talent in their own system in players like Jose Altuve, Framber Valdez and Yordan Alvarez, just to name a few. León has the potential to soon join that elite crew in Houston if he continues to make adjustments at the plate, and his performance this season indicates a positive trend.