Top MLB Prospect Elly De La Cruz Hits First MLB Home Run

Posted on June 7, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Elly De La Cruz has launched his Major League Baseball with a bang…

The 21-year-old Dominican professional baseball infielder for the Cincinnati Reds hit his first MLB home run with a 458-foot, two-run drive off the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Noah Syndergaard on Wednesday night and later tripled.

With fellow rookie Matt McLain on second base in the first inning, De La Cruz, a switch-hitter, smashed an 0-1 fastball that left the bat at 114.8 mph and landed in the last rows of the right-field stands at Great American Ball Park.

A day after making his big league debut, De La Cruz, who was named baseball’s top prospect by ESPN‘s Kiley McDaniel in his updated rankings last month, had the second-hardest-hit home run by a player 21 or younger since Statcast started tracking in 2015.

A homer by the Toronto Blue Jays‘ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on August 21, 2020, had an exit velocity of 115.9 mph.

De La Cruz tripled on a curveball in the third, a drive that went to the wall in right-center on four hops.

He reached third in 10.83 seconds, the fastest time in the major leagues this season, according to Statcast. It was the second fastest since the start of the 2020 season, behind 10.75 seconds for the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ Corbin Carroll last October 3.

Cruz was 1-for-3 with two walks in his debut Tuesday night. Wednesday night’s home run came in his sixth plate appearance.

The shortstop hit .298 with 12 home runs and 36 RBIs in 38 games for Triple-A Louisville this season.

Sandy Alcantara Sweeps All First-Place Votes to Win National League Cy Young Award

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a clean sweep for Sandy Alcantara…

The 27-year-old Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins has become the first unanimous Cy Young Award winner in the National League since Clayton Kershaw in 2014.

Alcantara, a right-hander, swept all 30 first-place votes to beat out Atlanta Braves lefty Max Fried and Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw Julio Urias to become the first Cy Young winner in Marlins history.

With Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander also winning the AL Cy Young by unanimous vote, this marks just the second time that both Cy Young winners were unanimous. Bob Gibson and Denny McLain also won unanimously in 1968, one year after the award started to be given out to both leagues.

In this age of five-inning starters, Alcantara stood out like a unicorn: He pitched 228⅔ innings, 23⅔ more than other pitcher in the majors, and the most innings since David Price threw 230 in 2016. He threw six complete games — more than any other team. He pitched at least eight innings in 14 of his 32 starts, the most such games since 2014. His 8.0 WAR easily topped Aaron Nola’s 6.0 as the best in the NL and ranked as the best in Marlins history, ahead of Kevin Brown‘s 7.9 in 1996.

“I’m very happy with the type of season I was able to have this season,” Alcantara said in a video released when he won the Players Choice Award as the outstanding NL pitcher. “It’s like I’ve always told the media: My mentality is to be a lion on the mound, finish all my starts.”

Here’s another way to view Alcantara’s award: He had 16 starts of more than seven innings when you add in his two 7⅔-inning outings. Fried and Urias combined for just two outings of more than seven innings. It wasn’t just his ability to pitch deep into games that made Alcantara the Cy Young winner, however. His 2.28 ERA ranked second in the NL behind Urias’ 2.16, and he held batters to a .212 average with some of the most electric stuff in the majors.

“He’s throwing 100-plus mph and he’s got movement on that fastball,” St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said.

Indeed, Alcantara averaged just under 98 mph with his fastball (he throws both a four-seamer and sinker), but his game plan is a little different from a lot of modern pitchers. He induces a lot of soft contact rather than just racking up strikeouts — and thus avoids the high pitch counts that result from a lot of deep counts. As a result, he led all starters in averaging just 14.2 pitches per inning, allowing him to go deep into games. He still managed 207 strikeouts, including a season-high 14 in an eight-inning win over the Braves on May 28. “Sometimes with Sandy it looks like pitch and catch,” then-Marlins manager Don Mattingly said after that dominating victory.

Originally signed by the Cardinals out of the Dominican Republic, the Marlins acquired Alcantara after the 2017 season in a trade that sent Marcell Ozuna to St. Louis. Alcantara made the MLB All-Star team in 2019, his first full season in the majors, when he finished with a 3.88 ERA, and then had a big breakout in 2021, when he went 9-15 with a 3.19 ERA in 205 innings.

An improved changeup took him to another level this season, as batters hit just .145 against it with no home runs in 248 at-bats. It’s a power change that averaged 91.8 mph — yes, a 92 mph changeup. According to Statcast metrics, his changeup saved 25 runs, the most valuable changeup in the game in 2022.

Maybe the highlight of Alcantara’s season wasn’t one of his seven scoreless outings, but a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals on June 29. Leading 4-3 with runners at first and second and one out in the ninth and Alcantara at 115 pitches, Mattingly came out to apparently remove him from the game. Alcantara talked himself into staying in and two pitches later induced to a double play to end it.

“When he came to me, I said, ‘I got it. I got it.’ I think he has too much confidence in me to finish the game,” Alcantara said after that win. “I don’t have to worry when I have men on base. I know I can throw a strike and get a double play.”

“He said he had it, and he did,” Mattingly said. “I wasn’t going to promise him two hitters, but I gave him that one. He’s pretty special.”

Special enough that the extension the Marlins signed him to last November that runs through 2027 now looks like a bargain. With the Marlins now having a Cy Young winner, the only franchises without one are the Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies.

Yordan Alvarez Leads Houston Astros to World Series Title After Hitting Massive Go-Ahead Home Run

Posted on November 6, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

With a massive swing, Yordan Alvarez helped propel the Houston Astros to a second World Series title.

The 25-year-old Cuban professional baseball designated hitter and left fielder hit a clutch late-inning home run to help the Astros take Game 6 from the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night by a 4-1 margin.

In the process Alvarez helped secure Houston’s second title in the last six years.

Alvarez came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning with runners on first and third and one out in the inning. The Phillies, who had taken a 1-0 lead in the top half of the frame on a Kyle Schwarber home run, elected to replace right-handed starter Zack Wheeler with left-handed reliever José Alvarado. Unfortunately for Phillies manager Rob Thomson and crew, that decision did not pay off.

Alvarado fell behind 2-1 to Alvarez before throwing a 99 mph sinker that caught far too much of the plate. Alvarez made Alvarado pay for the mistake, too, crushing a home run to dead center that left his bat traveling at 112.5 mph and carried some 450 feet, according to Statcast. The home run gave the Astros a 3-1 lead with just nine outs separating them from another title.

YORDADDY TO THE MOON. pic.twitter.com/4BiiPpjcTM

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 6, 2022

The Astros’ win expectancy swung from 50.5 percent prior to the home run to 84.3 percent afterward, per FanGraphs‘ calculations

Alvarez had a big postseason in one respect, as he showed a knack for delivering go-ahead home runs. According to MLB.com‘s Sarah Langs‘ research, he became the only player in Major League Baseball history to record three go-ahead home runs in the sixth inning or later of a postseason game. To be clear: that’s on a career level, yet Alvarez did it all in this postseason alone.

Yordan Alvarez Smashes Game-Ending, Three-Run Homer to Lead Houston Astros to Game 1 Win vs. the Seattle Mariners

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a smashing moment for Yordan Alvarez.

The 25-year-old Cuban professional baseball designated hitter and left fielder for the Houston Astros smashed a game-ending, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off Robbie Ray, wrecking the Seattle Mariners‘ strategy of using a Cy Young Award winner in a rare relief role and vaulting the Astros to an 8-7 victory on Tuesday in their playoff opener.

Trailing all game after a poor start by Justin Verlander, the AL West champion Astros overtook rookie star Julio Rodriguez and the wildcard Mariners at the end to begin their best-of-five division series.

Houston was down 7-5 when rookie pinch-hitter David Hensley reached with one out in the ninth as Seattle closer Paul Sewald grazed his jersey with a pitch.

Sewald struck out Jose Altuve before Jeremy Pena laced a single to center field to chase Sewald.

Mariners manager Scott Servais then made the bold move to bring in Ray, who started Saturday at Toronto in the AL Wild Card Series, for a lefty vs. lefty matchup with Alvarez. Ray, who won the Cy Young last year with Toronto, had made only six relief appearances in his career and had never earned a pro save.

Alvarez, who hit 37 homers in the regular season, sent Ray’s second pitch deep into the seats in right field to set off a wild celebration with his parents in the stands.

“I think it’s one of the most special moments that I’ve had in my career,” Alvarez said. “Having them there and just for the city of Houston they know that we’re a team that never gives up, so just being able to get that hit there was one of the most special moments in his career.”

His blast was the second walk-off home run in postseason history by a team down to its final out, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The other was Kirk Gibson‘s walk-off home run off Dennis Eckersley to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to a Game 1 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the 1988 World Series.

The home run had an exit velocity of 116.7 mph, the fourth-fastest of the 546 walk-off home runs in the Statcast era and the highest ever in the postseason.

Servais said the decision to use Ray was something they had thought about.

“It was something going into the series where we were at, looking at our rotation, where we were going to head, and talking with Robbie about using him out of the bullpen as a bullet, so to speak, for that type of scenario,” he said. “You know, bringing in a lefty against Alvarez, although Alvarez is one of the better hitters in the league.

“But we talked about it coming into the series. We talked about it pregame today. I looked at it in the seventh inning and said, ‘Hey, this could happen.’ So that was the plan going in.”

Houston skipper Dusty Baker, who managed Servais while with the San Francisco Giants, refused to second-guess his former player.

“If he gets him out, then it looks great … next time Robbie Ray could win, but today we won,” Baker said.

The Mariners jumped on Verlander for six runs in just four innings to build a 6-2 lead early. Yuli Gurriel hit a solo homer in the Houston fourth before Eugenio Suarez‘s solo shot in the seventh extended Seattle’s lead to 7-3.

A two-run homer by Alex Bregman off Andres Munoz cut the lead to 7-5 in the eighth inning to set up the dramatic finish.

Jesús Sánchez Hits Longest Home Run of the ’22 Season

Posted on May 30, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Jesús Sánchez has gone the distance…

The 24-year-old Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Miami Marlins obliterated a slider from Colorado Rockies starter Ryan Feltner halfway up the third and upper deck in right field in the second inning.

The ball traveled 496 feet, making it the longest home run ever hit at Coors Field by a left-handed hitter, and the second longest by any hitter, trailing only Giancarlo Stanton’s 504-foot shot in 2016.

Sánchez’s blast is also the longest home run in Major League Baseball this year, passing Mike Trout’s 472-foot one on April 14 in Arlington.

“It’s just monumental,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly after the Marlins’ 7-1 loss to the Rockies in their series opener at Coors Field on Monday afternoon. “You don’t get that feeling more than a couple times in your lifetime.”

“You’ll hit some more [into the upper deck],” Mattingly said. “But not very many like that one. I’d like to see a picture from where that ball landed. It probably looks like it’s two blocks away.”

Sánchez entered Monday’s game in need of a big hit. Following a strong April, he was hitting just .151/.205/.260 over 78 May plate appearances when he stepped to the plate in the second inning.

What he did in his first plate appearance on Monday certainly fit the category of “big hit.” In fact, it was a clout. He hit it so well, it’s tied for the third-longest homer that Statcast has ever tracked (Aaron Judge hit a 496-foot shot in 2017, and Miguel Sanó also had one in ’19). The only home runs that were longer were the 504-foot shot by Stanton at Coors Field in 2016, and a 505-foot drive by Nomar Mazara at Globe Life Park in ’19.

It wasn’t exactly surprising to Sánchez, who said he hit one 508 feet in the minors. But it was very special, nonetheless.

“It was something incredible,” he said through an interpreter. “I didn’t know it was that big of a magnitude, but it was something great.”

Click here to see the homer.

Washington Nationals Star Juan Soto Hits 100th Career Home Run

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

He’s only 23, but Juan Soto has already joined elite Major League Baseball company…

On Tuesday night, the Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Washington Nationals hit home run No. 100 at just 23 years old.

“It means a lot,” Soto said following the Nationals’ 16-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. “It’s just a number that not many players get to, and it feels an honor to be there.”

Soto rocked an 89.5 mph cutter from Braves right-hander Bryce Elder a Statcast-projected 451 feet to right-center field at 112.5 mph.

The milestone dinger was the fourth-longest of his career.

“For me, it’s just a blessing,” Soto said. “It just comes to me. I never tried to hit a homer, or anything like that. I’m one of the guys who just tries to hit singles every day. So for me to become consistent hitting homers, it’s just impressive and it tells how good I’ve been working on my body and everything.”

At 23 years and 169 days, Soto is just the seventh active player to belt 100 homers at age 23 and younger, per Elias Sports Bureau.

He joined Miguel Cabrera (23 years, 127 days), Bryce Harper (23 years, 181 days), Ronald Acuña Jr. (23 years, 184 days), Albert Pujols (23 years, 185 days), Giancarlo Stanton (23 years, 221 days) and Mike Trout (23 years, 253 days).

Soto first homered in 2018, his age-19 season.

“It’s awesome,” manager Dave Martinez said. “He’s so young, and for him to get his 100th home run at this early stage in his career, he’s going to hit a lot more. I’m happy for him. He swung the bat well today, he really did.”

The milestone home run adds to Soto’s success against the team’s National League East rival. He has hit 14 dingers against the Braves in 58 games, second to only his offensive production vs. the Philadelphia Phillies (17 home runs in 60 games). He also increased his Truist Park homer total to nine, third most at any opposing stadium behind Citizens Bank Park (12) and Citi Field (10).

Marcell Ozuna Agrees to One-Year, $18 Million Deal with the Atlanta Braves

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Marcell Ozuna has 18-million reasons to smile…

The 29-year-old Dominican professional baseball player and free agent outfielder, nicknamed “The Big Bear,”and the Atlanta Braves have reached an $18 million, one-year deal that puts him on the team he helped beat in the playoffs last year.

Ozuna hit .429 with two home runs for the St. Louis Cardinals in their five-game win over the Braves in the National League Division Series.

Ozuna hit .241 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI last season. His low batting average was something of an oddity because he ranked among the major league leaders in the highest percentage of hard-hit balls, according to Statcast.

Ozuna is a two-time MLB All-Star who spent his first five seasons with the Miami Marlins, then was traded and played two years in St. Louis.

Ozuna’s signing leaves infielder-outfielder Nicholas Castellanos as the last remaining major free agent with spring training set to start in about three weeks.

The two-time NL East champion Braves have been busy this offseason. On Monday, they signed former AL Cy Young Award winner and longtime Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez to a minor league with an invite to big league spring training.

Pete Alonso Ties National League Rookie Home Run Record

Posted on August 16, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Pete Alonso is having a banner rookie season…

With 42 games left to play, the 24-year-old part-Spanish American professional baseball player’s season already ranks among the more productive campaigns in New York Mets history.

Alonso has owned the franchise’s rookie home run record for weeks; Thursday, in a 10-8 win over the Atlanta Braves, he hit his 39th to match Cody Bellinger for the most by a rookie in National League history.

Passing Bellinger seems a foregone conclusion, as does the Mets’ overall franchise record for homers: 41, which Todd Hundley and Carlos Beltran share.

Beyond that, two significant standards loom: the Major League rookie home run record, which Aaron Judgeset with 52 in 2017, and the Mets’ overall RBI record, which Mike Piazzaand David Wrightshare with 124. Alonso is just ahead of the pace needed to set the former, and a hair behind the rate required for the latter.

“There are a lot of records out there,” Mets manager Mickey Callawaysaid. “I know he’s not too worried about that. He just wants to put together good at-bats and play good defense. But he’s stockpiling them.”

Many of Alonso’s home runs have resembled the one he hit Thursday: a 110.6-mph, 451-foot shot to straightaway center field, according to Statcastdata, one of nine he has hit at least 440 feet this season. (No Major Leaguer has more.) Alonso also singled home two runs in the fifth inning and another in the seventh, finishing with a career-high five hits and six RBIs. He and shortstop Amed Rosariobecame the first pair of Mets to collect five hits in the same game in franchise history, while Rosario became just the sixth to have four-plus hits in multiple games.

“I’m really happy,” Rosario said through an interpreter, “but I’m also really happy for him because he was able to tie the rookie record for home runs.”

Over the past three weeks, Alonso has gone deep even more frequently than he did before the break.

“I want to be the best version of myself every single day,” Alonso said. “Baseball’s a game of failure, and that’s really difficult to do and maintain throughout 162 games. I felt like the second half, it really hasn’t been what I’ve wanted after having the first half I had. … I was kind of just frustrated after a while because I know that I’m better.”

Games like Thursday provide the proof. Record books already hold the evidence. Time will tell how many all-time marks Alonso will ultimately set, though he’s about to have one more all to himself.

“I don’t stand alone,” Alonso said of the NL rookie record. “I’m tied. Hopefully, I keep on going and keep pushing forward. Hopefully, I can stand alone in that category.”

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