Here's a question you almost certainly haven't been asking yourself: What's the luckiest home run of 2015 to date? As ever, we're here for those with nowhere left to turn.
Thanks to the abundance of data available at Greg Rybarczyk's very excellent Hit Tracker, we can divine an answer to this desperately vital query. As it turns out, the Orioles' Caleb Joseph, in Fenway Park against Joe Kelly back on April 17, authored the luckiest home run of 2015 to date. Before I offer any supporting evidence, please have a look at the wee dinger in question ...
Pesky's Pole special! A good sign that a home run was of the lucky variety is when it requires a volleyball-style setup by the outfielder in order to clear the fence.
Also to be considered, per Hit Tracker Joseph's home run was the shortest of 2015 to date, with a true distance of 317 feet. As well, it registered an exit velocity 88.7 mph, which is a speed you're allowed to drive on certain Montana roadways. That 88.7 mph exit speed also happens to be the lowest such reading of any 2015 home run. (As Tony Blengino of FanGraphs recently noted, fly balls leaving the bat at 90 mph or less tend to be pretty harmless.) Also, the horizontal angle of 57 degrees on that Caleb home run is getting into pop-up territory. Instead, it was a home run.
Above all, the Hit Tracker algorithm has determined that Joseph's home run, absent any wind, would have left exactly zero major-league parks. Lucky and stuff, as mentioned.
Your thoughts, Mr. Joseph?
"Hey, man, it still counted," is what he might say if he were reading this. But he isn't.
