How quick? PCA's inside-the-parker is fastest home-to-home time since '17
MIAMI -- Pete Crow-Armstrong wasted no time flashing all the tools that make him an exciting young player, crushing a ball with an exit velocity of 107.1 mph and reaching elite sprint speed while running the fastest home-to-home time of the season.
The Cubs’ center fielder led off the top of the third of Chicago's series-opening 6-3 win in Miami, smacking the first pitch he saw from Max Meyer to deep right field. Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez hustled toward the line drive, but his outstretched glove could not snare the batted ball.
Crow-Armstrong was off to the races, while Sánchez’s momentum took him away from the play. The ball bounced on the warning track and ricocheted off the wall as Crow-Armstrong reached a sprint speed of 30.4 feet per second on his way to a game-tying inside-the-park home run. Crow-Armstrong posted the fastest home-to-home time of the year at 14.08 seconds, which was the fastest time recorded since Byron Buxton ran around the bases in 13.85 seconds on his own inside-the-parker on Aug. 18, 2017.
Two batters later, Ian Happ followed with a more traditional home run over the wall in left-center field. The two-run blast gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead in the top of the third inning.