Just in time for New Year's, let's look back at the top plays of 2024.
We give out Statcast superlatives every season -- for everything from the hardest-hit ball to the longest home run to the fastest pitch to the best catch.
Here are 15 of MLB's best plays of the year.
Hardest-hit ball
Oneil Cruz, Pirates -- 121.5 mph double (May 21)
There were six balls hit 120 mph or harder during the 2024 season. Cruz had four of them, and those were the four hardest-hit balls of the year. The very hardest was a dramatic clutch hit -- a game-tying double with two outs in the ninth inning off a 100.3 mph cutter from Giants closer Camilo Doval. Cruz's 121.5 mph double was the fifth-hardest batted ball in the Statcast era (since 2015), and by far the hardest-hit ball off a 100-plus mph pitch. The previous hardest was a 115.4 mph single by Giancarlo Stanton off Shintaro Fujinami in 2023.
Hardest home run
Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees -- 119.9 mph (May 8)
Speaking of Stanton … Big G launched the hardest home run of the 2024 season, nearly 120 mph off the bat, against Astros rookie Spencer Arrighetti at Yankee Stadium in May. It's the fifth-hardest home run of the Statcast era, and Stanton has three of the top five, including the two hardest overall. He's also hit the individual hardest homer of the season five times now out of the 10 seasons of Statcast tracking -- in 2015, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024.
Longest home run
Jesús Sánchez, Marlins -- 480 feet (Aug. 5)
Sánchez topped superstar sluggers like Aaron Judge (max home run distance of 477 feet), Shohei Ohtani (476 feet) and Mike Trout (473 feet) for the longest home run of 2024 with his 480-footer against the Reds at loanDepot Park in Miami. It's actually not the longest homer Sánchez has crushed in his career -- he hit one 496 feet on May 30, 2022 against the Rockies, but that one was in the thin air of Coors Field, and this one wasn't.
Fastest pitch (and strikeout)
Ben Joyce, Angels -- 105.5 mph (Sept. 3)
Joyce became the first pitcher since Chapman -- and the only other pitcher in the pitch tracking era, which goes back to 2008 -- to reach 105.5 mph, blowing away eventual World Series MVP Tommy Edman. And Joyce's was the fastest strikeout pitch ever tracked. Chapman's only two harder pitches, 105.8 mph and 105.7 mph, were both thrown for balls. The young Angels flamethrower has the only 105-plus-mph strikeout pitch since 2008.
Slowest pitch
Dominic Smith, Red Sox -- 31.9 mph (June 29)
Just for fun, here's the slowest pitch of the year, a lob thrown by Smith as a position player pitching. Somewhat humorously, Smith tried to sneak this barely 30 mph pitch past back-to-back-to-back batting champion Luis Arraez, who calmly lined it into center field for a base hit -- maybe Arraez's easiest hit of the year.
Slowest pitch for a swing-and-miss
Garrett Stubbs, Phillies -- 51.8 mph (July 29)
Even position players pitching get swings-and-misses sometimes, and those are beauties. The slowest of the 2024 season? That was Stubbs … against Giancarlo Stanton. Yes, one of the biggest sluggers in the Majors took a Ruthian hack and completely whiffed against a pitch thrown by the Phillies' backup catcher.
Most movement on a strikeout pitch (glove-side)
Walker Buehler, Dodgers -- 27 inches (NLCS Game 3)
Buehler turned it on for the Dodgers' World Series run, and it started in the National League Championship Series against the Mets, when all his stuff was moving like crazy. In the first inning of his Game 3 start at Citi Field, Buehler snapped off a Frisbee sweeper that broke over two full feet horizontally, striking out slugger Pete Alonso.
Most movement on a strikeout pitch (arm-side)
Devin Williams, Brewers -- 27 inches (Sept. 10)
For pitches moving in the opposite direction, there's nothing like the airbender. Williams' changeup has one-of-a-kind movement, and this one broke just as much as Buehler's sweeper, but the other way. It was a game-ending strikeout, too, sealing a one-run win over the Giants. Williams had the most movement on a K last season, too, and it was also an airbender that broke 27 inches.
Fastest inside-the-park home run
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs -- 14.08 seconds (Aug. 23)
PCA had one of the fastest inside-the-parkers we've seen in the Statcast era. We saw inside-the-park home runs from elite speedsters like Corbin Carroll (14.32 seconds) and Elly De La Cruz (14.96 seconds) this season, but Crow-Armstrong circled the bases in just 14.08 seconds on Aug. 23 against the Marlins. That's the fastest home-to-home time since Byron Buxton's Statcast-record 13.85 seconds on Aug. 18, 2017.
Slowest home run trot
Manny Machado, Padres -- 34.76 seconds (Sept. 17)
On the other end of the spectrum are players like Machado, who loves to admire a big home run and take his time circling the bases. Picking the longest home run trot of the year can be a little more art than science, because often, the batter is delayed while trying to figure out if his home run was fair or foul, or if it was robbed at the wall or not, or if it hit the top of the fence or went over. But Machado just likes to watch them go, like he did here on a game-tying blast against the Astros in San Diego. This was the longest trot of 2024 on a home run that the player just wanted to celebrate.
Fastest triple
Corbin Carroll, D-backs -- 10.76 seconds (May 18)
Carroll might be the best baserunner in MLB, and his first triple of the 2024 season was the fastest triple of the 2024 season. The D-backs speedster went home-to-third in well under 11 seconds against the Tigers at Chase Field. Actually, Carroll had the three fastest triples of the year, adding home-to-third times of 10.84 seconds and 10.86 seconds.
Fastest sprint speed on a stolen base
Elly De La Cruz, Reds -- 30.3 ft/sec (June 29)
We have Crow-Armstrong with the fastest inside-the-park home run of 2024, Carroll with the fastest triple and now De La Cruz with the fastest stolen base. Those are three fitting players to take home the speed-related Stacast superlatives. De La Cruz reached a top sprint speed of 30.3 feet per second on his 40th steal of the season. That's easily above Statcast's 30-plus ft/sec threshold for elite MLB speed, which is even harder to reach on a stolen base because of the limited distance a player has to get up to his top speed.
Fastest pop time on a caught stealing (to second base)
Patrick Bailey, Giants -- 1.75 seconds (July 7)
Bailey had the fastest pop time on a caught stealing at second base in 2023 (1.71 seconds), and he had it again in 2024 (1.75 seconds), nabbing the Guardians' Brayan Rocchio. Bailey shared the honor with a few other catchers -- J.T. Realmuto, Henry Davis and Gary Sánchez also caught basestealers with 1.75 pop times -- but we'll highlight him here because he's emerged as the best all-around defensive catcher in the Majors.
Hardest outfield assist
Nolan Jones, Rockies -- 101.3 mph (July 1)
Jones has an elite arm in the outfield. He had two 100-plus mph throws for outfield assists in 2024, and Billy Cook of the Pirates was the only other player who had even one. Jones' best throw was a 101.3 mph laser from left field to third base to nab the Brewers' Eric Haase trying to stretch a single into a double. This comes after Jones also had the hardest outfield assist of 2023 (102.7 mph). He has five tracked 100-plus mph outfield assists over the last two seasons; all other MLB outfielders have five combined.
Best catch
Daulton Varsho, Blue Jays -- 5% catch probability (July 5)
A 5% catch probability is essentially as tough of a catch as an outfielder can make, so at the end of a season, any 5% catches are the best of the best highlight-reel plays. There's always a few to choose from, but it doesn't get any better than the catch Varsho made on July 5. The Gold Glove outfielder ran full speed into the left-center-field wall to rob the Mariners' Luke Raley of an extra-base hit. Varsho needed to cover 122 feet in 6.2 seconds to get to the ball, and he had to navigate the fence on top of that.