Power has been Sam Huff’s calling card since he was selected in the seventh round of the 2016 Draft. In his fourth Arizona Complex League game on Friday, MLB Pipeline’s No. 60 prospect showed exactly why.
Huff launched his first homer of the season 511 feet and 115 mph off the bat in a game against the ACL Padres. The results of the slugging catcher’s demolition of the baseball were based on TrackMan Baseball data shared by the Rangers Player Development Twitter account.
The Rangers' No. 2 prospect is no stranger to the long ball, swatting 28 dingers across both levels of A-ball in 2019, and hitting three homers in a brief 10-game stint for the Rangers in 2020.
“I’m trying to work my butt off to get back there, but whatever they do I’m not really worried, I just want to play baseball,” said Huff. “To not be injured and have fun again. Wherever they put me I’m going to do my job and take care of my business.”
Huff was also named the MVP of the All-Star Future Stars game in 2019 for his clutch two-run home run to tie the score in the seventh inning.
“When I feel like I’m hitting good, it feels like I barely touch the ball. I don’t need to put a lot of force into it, I just need to hit the ball on the barrel,” said Huff. “When I do hit balls a lot harder, when I make contact I don’t usually feel them. It’s effortless for me.”
In comparison to Huff’s monstrous blast, the only two home runs tracked in the Statcast era (starting in 2015) to travel over 500 feet belong to Nomar Mazara and Giancarlo Stanton.
Mazara’s 505-foot blast for the Rangers on June 21, 2019, broke Stanton’s record of 504 feet set on August 6, 2016, for the Marlins at Coors Field.
Huff's time in the Arizona Complex League should be brief, as he continues to rehab from right knee surgery to remove loose bone bodies from an injury sustained in the batting cage at Minor League camp. Huff missed most of Spring Training with a Grade 2 hamstring strain as well, but he said staying off of his right leg during his post-surgery rehab allowed him to build his strength back up in his left leg.
“Playing now, it’s about being self-conscious about my body and what I have to do stretching-wise and physically-wise to understand how my body feels that day,” said Huff. “It’s been a learning curve for me, because I’ve had plenty of failure on the field and this was the first time I failed off the field, in terms of my body.”