Lazaro Montes is 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds. He used all of it to hit a mammoth home run on Monday, carrying 474 feet into the night, the longest homer at T-Mobile Park in the Statcast era (2015).
What fuels the Mariners’ larger-than-life rookie? Montes has a sweet answer that might surprise you.
“Before the game, something I feel like gives me power is Nutella,” Montes said Thursday on Chatting Practice Powered by Zoom Events. “I just get like two scoops, three scoops, and I say, ‘OK. One scoop, one hit. Two scoops, two hits. Three scoops? That needs to be three hits or a homer.”
Unconventional? Maybe. Working? Definitely.
Montes, who ranks as the Mariners’ No. 5 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 56 prospect overall, has slashed .263/.300/.632 in his first seven games with a pair of dingers. That’s after he launched 38 homers with a .927 OPS this year in the Minor Leagues, leading to his Sept. 1 callup.
Among discussing his MLB debut, his relationship with Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle life and much more on Chatting Practice, Montes also shared the craziest part of his 474-foot bomb: He thinks he can go even farther.
“I always push myself, every time harder and harder, and I'm just confident, man. Yeah, I got it,” Montes said. “I’m trying to hit a 500, and if I hit a 500 [or] 510, you know, keep going.”
Perhaps all it will take to reach that lofty goal is a bit more Nutella.