Stanton rips his hardest-hit homer since '18
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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.”
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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.