Soler hammers longest homer of 2024 season

DENVER -- Giants designated hitter Jorge Soler kicked off Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Rockies at Coors Field with a bang, crushing a 478-foot tank out to center field that ranked as the longest home run of the 2024 season so far, passing Shohei Ohtani's 476-foot shot on June 18, also at Coors Field.

Soler unloaded on a 2-1 sinker from Colorado right-hander Ryan Feltner, sending it halfway up the center-field bleachers to collect his 11th homer of the year and give the Giants an early 1-0 lead. It was the Giants’ second-longest home run since the Statcast era began in 2015, trailing only Alex Dickerson’s 480-foot bomb at Coors Field on Sept. 1, 2020.

“It feels really good,” Soler said in Spanish. “I didn’t know it was going to go that far, but I knew I made good contact.”

The Giants originally planned on using Soler as their everyday cleanup hitter after signing him to a three-year, $42 million deal over the offseason, but they moved him into the leadoff spot after he struggled to produce with runners in scoring position in the first half. Sunday’s blast marked his fourth career leadoff homer and his first since Aug. 18, 2023, against the Dodgers.

“I didn’t even see where it ended up hitting,” said manager Bob Melvin, who wasn’t around to witness the homer in person since he was ejected prior to the start of the game. “But I knew off the bat on the swing it was out. Typically, when he gets one pretty good, it goes a long way.”

The Giants are now 11-9 when Soler has batted leadoff this year. The Cuban slugger is batting .225 with a .702 OPS over 85 games in 2024.