SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The ball flies in Arizona. Prospects love hitting in the thin air, as they're perpetually rewarded for tapping into loft and crushing pitches a long ways. But sometimes, you have to get creative.
Dante Nori's first Fall League home run during Surprise's 8-0 win over Salt River at Salt River Fields on Thursday night traveled 414 feet off the bat ... and then a whole bunch more in the direction from whence it came after it caromed off the top of the right-center-field fence. Somehow, some way, despite coming off the bat at 101.8 mph with a 29-degree launch angle, the ball stayed in the yard. So Nori, the Phillies' No. 6 prospect, took things into his own hands.
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"As soon as it left the bat, I knew it had a chance," said Nori. "I was like, 'I don't know if it'll barely squeak out.' I hit it to the deepest part of the ballpark, but I knew I got it. All of a sudden, it just hit off the wall and I was halfway to second. I saw where the ball was. It was no man's land, so I was like, 'All right, here we go.'"
Nori logged a 29.5 ft/sec sprint speed (anything at 30 and above is considered "elite"), his 13th time doing so in the AFL and fifth in the past week. Despite a relatively modest home-to-first time of 4.69 seconds (maybe somewhat understandable after thinking he likely had a home run off the bat), Nori wound up circling the bags in just 14.76 seconds.
Only Boston's Jarren Duran (14.71 seconds) posted a faster home-to-home time during the 2025 Major League season. Zooming out further, since 2019, just a handful of the big league's premier speedsters -- Pete Crow-Armstrong, Bobby Witt Jr., Corbin Carroll, Byron Buxton, TJ Friedl and Duran -- have posted faster marks on inside-the-park homers.
By the time Nori hit second base, his back was to the ball. He needed to rely upon Surprise manager and third-base coach Jesus Azuaje for word on whether or not he should go for his first inside-the-park home run in as long as he can remember.
"Halfway to third, I look up and I see Skip giving me the round, so I was like, 'Let's try it,'" Nori said.
Nori slid safely under the relay throw on a bang-bang play at the plate. He needed each tenth and hundredth of his 14.76-second mad dash.
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Nori is not known for his home run pop. He collected 127 hits across 125 regular-season games between Single-A Clearwater, High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading this season, just four of which went over the fence. But his wheels have long earned him recognition. He finished tied for third in all of the Minors with 12 triples and placed second in the Phillies’ system with 52 stolen bases, trailing only No. 2 prospect Aidan Miller (59).
The 21-year-old first reported to spring camp in Clearwater, Fla., in February. Even after a minor injury sidelined him early on in the Fall League, he had no intention of packing his bags and calling it a year. It's month No. 10 of baseball for the 2024 first-rounder, who has his eyes already locked on everything that's to come next.
"You know, I was very satisfied with the year I had," said Nori. "Three levels in one year, [my] first [full] professional year, so it was a success by itself alone. To finish out here just playing with the boys and just having some fun was very important to me to finish the year strong."