PITTSBURGH -- Certain players across Major League Baseball just seem built for Statcast, the sport’s state-of-the-art tracking technology. Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz has proven over the years he’s one of them.
Sunday afternoon, however, Cruz took his usual athletic exploits a step further, doing something nobody has ever done in the 10-year history of the tracking service.
The 26-year-old Cruz recorded the hardest-hit ball in Statcast history, driving a letter-high four-seam fastball from Logan Henderson 122.9 mph off the bat. The ball cleared the right field wall at PNC Park with ease, traveling 432 feet, and one-hopped into the Allegheny River, all by the time Cruz even left the batter’s box.
Cruz broke his own record for hardest hit overall in Statcast history, surpassing a 122.4 mph base hit he drove off the outfield wall in Pittsburgh on Aug. 4, 2022. The blast also broke the record for the hardest-hit home run previously held by Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (121.7 mph, Aug. 9, 2018).