Gone-far-lo: HR blasted 475 feet into space

Statcast projects drive by Stanton as longest homer of 2016

May 7th, 2016

MIAMI - Meet the new Statcast™ home run king, who happens to be the same as the old king.
Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton once again stands alone when it comes to pure home run distance. The three-time All-Star connected on a go-ahead, two-run shot in the eighth inning on Friday that lifted Miami to a 6-4 win over the Phillies at Marlins Park.
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Statcast™ projected Stanton's laser at 475 feet off Phillies right-hander Hector Neris with an exit velocity of 113 mph. The blast replaces Pittsburgh's Jordy Mercer as the top homer tracked this season. Mercer's drive was 466 feet on April 22.
"It must carry better with the roof open, we're finding that out," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.
THE 5 LONGEST HOMERS OF 2016
• Stanton, May 6 vs. Phillies, 475 feet
• Jordy Mercer, April 22 vs. D-backs, 466 feet
• Stanton, April 30 vs. Brewers, 462.3 feet
• Nolan Arenado, April 10 vs. Padres, 462.2 feet
• Carlos Correa, April 6 vs. Yankees, 461 feet
On a comfortable, rain-free night, Stanton launched his game-changing, and Statcast-swinging, drive in the direction of South Beach. The "did you see that" smash came on an 87 mph Neris splitter.
"It's already spinning the way you need it to," Stanton said. "It's already got backspin on it, when it's off-speed. Those are also put-out pitches."
Cut4: Where did Giancarlo's HR rank in his career?
Stanton not only reclaimed his distance lead, but his missile overshadowed teammate Christian Yelich's personal Statcast™ best -- a two-run homer in the first inning. Yelich's shot was 451 feet off Vince Velasquez. It also was his third homer in four games, surpassing his 437-foot drive on Tuesday against Tyler Clippard of the D-backs.
"They're saying, 'Yelly's got the big-time pop now,'" Stanton joked. "I've got to catch up to him a little bit."
"They hit them. They don't get cheap shots, do they?" Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
Yelich, who singled with one out to open the eighth, said there is no doubt who is still the home run champ.
"No, no, no," Yelich said. "I'm ways away from him. He does it all the time. That's a once-in-a-blue-moon thing for me."

Still, Yelich has been working with hitting coaches Barry Bonds and Frank Menechino, and he's getting more lift on the ball.
Not only was Stanton's homer fun to watch, it was significant because it broke a tie on a night the Phillies rallied from four down. The Marlins' bullpen was thin because closer A.J. Ramos was not available.
"Just the timing of it," Stanton said. "That easily could have been 13, 14 innings. I'm just happy for the timing of it."
The Marlins have won four straight and 11 of 12, which is the most wins ever by the club in a 12-game span.
Stanton has 10 homers on the season, seven since April 24.
His previous Statcast™-long homer this year was 462.3 feet last Saturday at Milwaukee off Chase Anderson.
The exact measure of Stanton's drive on Friday was 474.6 feet with an exit velocity of 112.8 mph, but it rounds up.
"I think that's just his swing," Mattingly said. "It's bat speed, timing. Obviously, if the guy is throwing 100 or something and he catches it the same way, it's probably going to go further. But it's hard to imagine it going much further."