Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates made history on Sunday by hitting the hardest-hit ball since Statcast began tracking in 2015. The ball, a home run off Logan Henderson of the Milwaukee Brewers, traveled 432 feet and reached an exit velocity of 92.2 mph.
Cruz’s impressive drive came in the third inning as a leadoff hit to right field, cutting the Pirates’ deficit to 3-1 against the Brewers at that time.
Milestone Achievement
This achievement marks a milestone for Cruz, who had previously hit one of just two balls over 122 mph with a single last August. That single was also his career-high exit velocity at that time.
Cruz’s record-breaking performance has put him alongside Giancarlo Stanton as one of only two players with multiple hard-hits over 90 mph this season. Stanton holds the record for most hard-hits by an MLB player with five such hits.
However, according to Statcast data available through Saturday night, no other players have reached double digits in their careers for hard-hits like these. Stanton held both records until Cruz broke them Sunday afternoon as part of his second multi-home run game this season and fourth overall during his career.
"I’m just trying to do my job," said Cruz after breaking records on Sunday afternoon.
Upcoming Games
The Pirates are currently facing off against their division rivals from Milwaukee and will look to continue their winning streak into Monday night when they take on another NL Central opponent – the Chicago Cubs. Cruz is expected to be back out there again tonight after taking some swings during batting practice earlier today.
"He looked good," said manager Derek Shelton about Cruz’s progress following an injury he sustained while sliding into first base Friday night.
Cruz is not alone among Pittsburgh players who have been making waves lately. Fellow infielder Ji Hwan Bae has also been making headlines recently. Bae became only the fifth player since the expansion era began in 1968 (and first since 1998) last week when he homered from both sides against the same pitcher (Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff) within the same game.
Pittsburgh will look forward to seeing how Bae performs alongside Cruz moving forward. The team will face off against Chicago starting Monday night at PNC Park before heading out west next weekend where they’ll play three games each against San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Pirates fans can catch all upcoming games live on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh or stream them online via fuboTV or DirecTV.
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