It’s always interesting to recap who is hitting homeruns in Major League Baseball. The obvious question then, is who has hit the farthest long ball of the year so far?
From MLB:
Today’s game may have few players, if any who haven’t already done it, who can hit as many as Killebrew’s 573 home runs, but there is some killing of baseballs going on still, and some of the culprits are sluggers you’d suspect of delivering the long-distance damage.
“If I had to guess who hit the longest,” said Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, who’s proven to be a perennial long-ball master himself, “I’d say maybe [Mike] Stanton … or Prince. Prince Fielder swings so hard. It’s like the old joke — swing hard in case you hit it. He swings hard, but his eyes are open and he knows what he’s doing. He’s got a lot of power, but he’s a good, smart hitter, not a guy who just swings from his [heels].”
It’s the Brewers’ Fielder who leads the pack with a 486-foot shot hit off Houston’s Brett Myers at Minute Maid Park on April 29, according to Hit Tracker. Upton is second with an April shot at Chase Field estimated to be 478 feet, followed by Howard with a 470-footer at Turner Field, Arizona’s Kelly Johnson with a 466-foot blast at Coors Field earlier this week, and Stanton with a 465-foot blast at Citi Field earlier this month.
Others currently in the top 10 based on the latest technological approach to measuring homers are Upton (464 feet at Arizona), Paul Konerko (462 at Kansas City), and Alfonso Soriano (461 at Arizona), Nate Schierholtz (461 at Colorado) and, yes, Hunter in a tie for seventh (461 at Kansas City).
UP, UP AND AWAY
| PLAYER | DATE | DIST (ft.) |
|---|---|---|
| Prince Fielder, Brewers | April 29 at HOU | 486 |
| Justin Upton, D-backs | April 12 vs. STL | 478 |
| Ryan Howard, Phillies | May 13 at ATL | 470 |
| Kelly Johnson, D-backs | May 24 at COL | 466 |
| Mike Stanton, Marlins | May 16 at NYM | 465 |
| Juston Upton, D-backs | April 17 at SF | 464 |
| Paul Konerko, White Sox | April 5 at KC | 462 |
| Torii Hunter, Angels | March 31 at KC | 461 |
| Nate Schierholtz, Giants | April 18 at COL | 461 |
| Alfonso Soriano, Cubs | April 30 at ARI | 461 |
