Home runs have been harder to hit this season than in years past, though not for Miami Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez on Monday. Sánchez clobbered a 496-foot home run into the top of the third deck in right field at Coors Field. Poor Colorado Rockies righty Ryan Feltner served up the titanic blast (GameTracker).
Here is Sánchez's monster dinger:
At 496 feet, Sánchez's home run isn't just the longest in baseball this season. It is baseball's longest since Minnesota Twins slugger Miguel Sanó clobbered a 496-foot homer against the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 17, 2019. Here are the longest home runs hit from Opening Day 2020 to Monday:
- Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves: 495 feet vs. Red Sox (Sept. 25, 2020)
- Miguel Sanó, Twins: 495 feet vs Red Sox (Aug. 25, 2021)
- Tommy Pham, Padres: 485 feet vs. Rockies (Aug. 17, 2021)
- Yermín Mercedes, White Sox: 485 feet vs. Royals (April 8, 2021)
- Adam Duvall, Braves: 483 feet vs. Diamondbacks (Sept. 20, 2021)
Sánchez's home run is the longest by a Marlins player since (who else?) Giancarlo Stanton clobbered a 504-foot blast against the Rockies in Coors Field on Aug. 6, 2016. Baseball's only other 500-foot homer in the Statcast era (2015 to present) was Nomar Mazara's 504-foot dinger on June 21, 2019.
The Home Run Derby was held at Coors Field last season and several players launched third deck homers that cleared 500 feet, though MLB did not store Home Run Derby baseballs in the humidor. Those balls were designed to fly. Sánchez hit a ball that has been deadened to cut down on home runs.
Sánchez, 24, joined the Marlins in the Nick Anderson trade with the Tampa Bay Rays a few years ago. He is in his first season as a full-time big leaguer and he took a .215/.276/.375 batting line into Monday's game. Sánchez now has 19 home runs in 117 career big-league games, a solid 26-homer pace across 162 games.
Prior to Sánchez's, baseball's longest home run this year was a 472-foot blast by Mike Trout against the Texas Rangers on April 14.
