MLB

Longest Homer for Every 2022 MLB Home Run Derby Participant

This year's field of eight has a history of hitting moonshots

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Longest homer for every 2022 MLB Home Run Derby participant originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Anyone with bleacher seats at Dodger Stadium on Monday better bring a glove.

Eight of baseball’s premier sluggers are kicking off MLB’s All-Star festivities in Los Angeles with the Home Run Derby on July 18. Plenty of souvenirs will be launched into the crowd, and some may reach the nosebleeds or even leave Dodger Stadium entirely.

The goal of the Home Run Derby is to hit the most homers, but this year’s group of contestants has a track record of posting incredible distances on their long balls, too. Statcast, which was created in 2015, gives us a precise measurement of just how far those homers would travel.

Before the All-Star field of eight gets into the batter’s box for this year’s Derby, let’s look at every participant’s longest home run of the Statcast era:

José Ramírez: 447 feet

Ramírez’s longest MLB home run came in a pretty inconsequential spot. The Cleveland third baseman entered as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning against the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 8, 2015. Facing lefty Zach Duke, Ramirez pulled a ball 447 feet into left field for a homer. You can watch the highlight at the 1:24 mark of the video above.

The homer didn’t do much for Cleveland in the game, as Chicago secured a 7-4 win.

Julio Rodríguez: 450 feet

Rodríguez sent his first big league home run a long way.

The Seattle Mariners rookie outfielder crushed the milestone homer off fellow All-Star Sandy Alcantara on May 1. The ball went 450 feet into left-center, helping Seattle come away with a 7-3 victory against the Miami Marlins.

Rodríguez is up to 15 home runs in his MLB career, and he might hit more than that on Monday at Dodger Stadium.

Juan Soto: 454 feet

Soto got to admire his longest home run and watch it fly.

The Washington Nationals outfielder set his best mark with a 454-foot blast against the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 19, 2021. He didn’t need the benefit of Coors Field, either, taking Jon Gray deep at Nationals Park.

Albert Pujols: 459 feet

Pujols has definitely been hitting home runs the longest time-wise out of anyone in this year’s Home Run Derby field, but not distance-wise.

The future Hall of Famer ranks fifth out of this year’s contestants when it comes to biggest tape-measure homer in an MLB game. Pujols crushed his record home run 459 feet off Taylor Rogers in a July 4 Angels-Twins game back in 2017.

The 459-foot blast was Pujols’ longest of the Statcast era. Going off older projected distance measurements, his farthest home run came 10 years earlier when he sent a Ryan Dempster pitch out of Wrigley Stadium all together.

Corey Seager: 464 feet

Seager knows a thing or two about hitting homers at Dodger Stadium, but his longest home run came in Arizona.

The Texas Rangers All-Star set his career mark against the Diamondbacks on Sept. 26, 2021, one of his final regular season games as a Dodger. He pulled a 464-foot bomb against Humberto Mejia for his second home run of the game in a 3-0 win for Los Angeles.

Seager will return to his former home ballpark for the first time as a Ranger on Monday looking to send even more pitches into the Dodger Stadium bleachers.

Kyle Schwarber: 473 feet 

Not only did Schwarber get 473 feet of distance on his longest home run – he also got four RBIs.

The Philadelphia Phillies slugger hit his biggest homer at Miller Park in 2019. Then with the Chicago Cubs, Schwarber launched a grand slam off Milwaukee Brewers starter Zach Davies on July 28, 2019. The second-inning grand salami helped the Cubs earn an 11-4 victory over their NL Central rival.

Schwarber has kept his slugging this season. He is second in the majors with 28 homers and also has the third-longest home run of the 2022 MLB season, ripping a 468-foot dinger against the Colorado Rockies on April 20.

Ronald Acuña Jr.: 481 feet

Acuña, along with everybody else at Truist Park on April 27, 2021, knew this ball was gone.

The Atlanta Braves outfielder belted a 481-foot no-doubter off Cubs starter Trevor Williams. It was the longest homer of Acuña’s career and the fourth-longest home run of the 2021 MLB season.

Acuña tore his ACL later that season and was unable to take the field during the Braves’ World Series run. He has returned to All-Star form this season, becoming the NL’s leading vote-getter for the Midsummer Classic and earning a slot in his second MLB Home Run Derby.

Pete Alonso: 489 feet

Just like in the 2019 Home Run Derby, Alonso has the edge over Acuña.

The New York Mets first baseman owns the longest in-game home run of any player competing in this year’s Derby. The Polar Bear got it during his historic rookie season when he smashed a 489-foot moonshot against Twins reliever Matt Magill on July 17, 2019.

The home run came just nine days after Alonso won his first Derby. On Monday, he will look to complete a three-peat.

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