SEATTLE -- Lazaro Montes’ sheer power has now been officially felt in the Pacific Northwest.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound designated hitter demolished Cal Quantrill’s 94 mph fastball into the right-center-field concourse of T-Mobile Park for a three-run blast in the fourth inning of the Mariners' 10-5 loss. It was Montes’ second homer since his Sept. 1 callup -- and his first in Seattle.
Montes sent a fastball, grooved right down the middle of the zone, a Statcast-projected 474 feet. It was the farthest hit ball at T-Mobile Park since Statcast tracking began in 2015, surpassing former Mariners catcher Mike Zunino, who hit one 470 feet against the Royals on June 29, 2018. The 116.1 mph exit velocity was also the highest for a Mariner since a 116.7 mph Julio Rodríguez single back on Aug. 1, 2023, and the highest on a homer since Rodríguez blasted a 117.2 mph shot off Kenley Jansen on Sept. 11, 2022.
“I thought that home run by Laz was spectacular," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “We talk about home runs here at this ballpark, and I don’t think I’ve seen one that far.”
Montes, Seattle’s No. 5 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 56 overall, was immediately injected into the Mariners’ lineup upon being selected from Triple-A Tacoma as part of September roster expansions last week. In his debut, the 21-year-old went 2-for-4 at Boston with a solo home run, becoming the sixth Mariner to do so.
Montes, arguably Seattle’s most prominent power-hitting prospect of this era, hit 38 homers in the Minors this season between Double-A Arkansas and Tacoma; Tuesday’s shot was his 40th total this year.
‘Right when I hit it, I said, ‘Oh man, this is far,’” Montes said, who went 1-for-4.
He claims he hit a few in the Dominican Republic that carried farther, as long as 500 feet.
“This is not the only one,” Montes said. “I need to now get another one.”
Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres also reached 474 feet on July 21 against the Braves with an 111.0 exit velocity. Tatis and Montes' homers are currently the longest in baseball.
Montes’ bat is quickly making his mark in just six games. In 18 at-bats, he’s recorded four hits (two homers), six RBIs and one walk. He believes there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
“Not bad. Not bad,” Montes said. “Can be better.”
The longest Mariners homer in the Statcast era stands with former outfielder and top prospect Jarred Kelenic. On April 12, 2023, he hit a massive 482-foot round-tripper against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. It also happened to be the second longest at Wrigley behind Willson Contreras’ 491-foot knock in Game 4 of the 2017 NLCS. Kelenic’s ball went halfway up the second level of the bleachers in center field.
Behind Zunino at T-Mobile Park, Chris Carter reached 465 feet with the Brewers in 2016, followed by C.J. Cron of the Twins in July of 2019, reaching 464 feet.
As an Angel, Shohei Ohtani famously reached the upper deck of right field with a 463-foot blast off Marco Gonzalez for his Major League leading 33rd homer on July 10, 2021 At the time, it was the hardest hit homer at T-Mobile with a 116.5 mph exit velocity.