Statcast of the Day: Myers hits for cycle

DENVER - Wil Myers came into Coors Field smoking hot, a one-man wrecking crew in the mile-high ballpark, and by the time he pulled into third with an eighth-inning triple to complete the second cycle in Padres history and cap a 5-3 Padres victory, he could melt the steel girders framing the park with his historic prowess at the plate.
Myers singled to right in the first, drove an RBI double to left in the second, homered into the right field bullpen to lead off the sixth, and then tripled to the left-center gap against Carlos Estévez to lead off the eighth and complete the cycle.
"As soon as I hit it I knew that the triple was a possibility, and that was what I was trying to do," Myers said. "I was screaming 'three' to myself."
• Players who have hit for the cycle
Myers wasn't alone, as his teammates and even his manager were on their feet rooting him to third.
"I usually try to be as even-keeled as I can, but you don't see cycles very often," Padres manager Andy Green said. "I knew he had the speed for it if it got past [Gerardo] Parra. And when it snuck past him, I felt pretty good about it as long as he didn't stumble on the bases."
Myers admitted he was digging so hard for third that he nearly did stumble. "If I had fell, I would have still tried for it," he said.
Oddly enough, the only other cycle from a Padres player also came at Coors Field when Matt Kemp completed the feat on Aug. 14, 2015.
On top of the significance to the Padres franchise, Myers' cycle rose toward the top of the Statcast™ leaderboard in terms of the average exit velocity on a cycle. His single left the bat at 103.9 mph, his double at 110.2 mph, his homer at 97.8 mph, and the cycle-capping triple at 102.6 mph velocity, which may have helped it elude Parra from bouncing back too quickly from the left-center fence.
Though it was his fourth game with four hits, it was the first time in the Statcast™ era that Myers ever had four hits with an exit velocity of 95 mph or more. The 103.6 mph average exit velocity was second only to the Rangers' Shin-Soo Choo's 105.3 mph average velocity on his July 21, 2015 cycle, also at Coors Field.
Myers overcame his toughest statistical obstacle with the home run, which had a probability of only 39 percent in those circumstances, but Myers was on a mission and probability bent his way.
• Cut4: Both Padres cycles have come at Coors Field
"Those moments don't happen very often on a baseball field," Green said. "To see somebody get it, someone who's kind of a cornerstone of your franchise now, too, it's a lot of fun to watch. Everybody was pretty fired up for him tonight."
Rockies manager Bud Black managed Myers in the first baseman's first year with the Padres in '15, and wasn't surprised to see this kind of output.
"His strength is to hit the ball to all fields, which you saw tonight," Black said. "You saw a ball down the left field line, you saw a ball hit to right field, you saw a ball hit to left-center. So he's a talented young player. I think that a lot of people in this game saw that early on. And he's realizing that potential."

Myers had come close to a cycle before, but the triple always eluded him. He previously had four other games with a single, double and home run, but in each of those he got his final hit in his last at-bat.
"I think I've been a triple shy from the cycle three times," Myers said. "I wasn't even thinking about a triple, honestly. I just tried to put a good swing on it, because I know no lead's safe here in Colorado
"In that situation right there when we really needed a run, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a chance, so it kind of lined up perfectly."
Myers finished the game with a career .357 (25-for-70) average at Coors Field with 17 runs, four doubles, one triple, six homers, and 17 RBIs.
"I really enjoy hitting here," Myers said. "You see the ball really well, it's a great hitter's eye, it's a huge outfield, a lot of hits out there. It's my favorite place to come hit, here and Yankee Stadium, but a great place, fun place to play."
Myers' was the eighth cycle by an opponent at Coors Field.