Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. has put together an amazing, historic 2023 MLB season.
On Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Acuña crushed a grand slam to become the first player in major-league history to hit at least 30 home runs and steal at least 60 bases in a season (he also got married earlier in the day).
And on Saturday night, Acuña added another ridiculous achievement to the résumé.
On a 3-0 count, Acuña crushed a home run 454 feet to dead center at Dodger Stadium. The distance was quite impressive, but even more impressive was how hard Acuña hit the baseball.
The ball left Acuña’s bat at 121.2 miles per hour. That’s the hardest-hit baseball in the majors — by anyone — this season.
It’s the third-hardest-hit home run and sixth-hardest-hit ball of the Statcast era (which began in 2015).
According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, only Giancarlo Stanton has more than one batted ball of at least 120 mph, doing so 14 times.
Stanton has hit home runs of 121.7 mph (2018) and 121.3 mph (2020) according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, edging out Acuña.
Acuña now has 32 homers, 63 stolen bases, and a robust .338/.420/.585 slash line on the season. He’s in a battle with the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman for NL MVP honors.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.