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No, that 495 number in the headline isn’t a typo.
During a Sunday afternoon game between the Chicago Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cubs rookie Kris Bryant crushed a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning that traveled a whopping 495 feet. MLB’s measurement system that tells us just how far hits travel during games, called Statcast, was able to track the length of the ball, even though it clanked off the gigantic scoreboard beyond Wrigley Field’s outfield wall. Bryant’s homer is actually the longest home run we’ve seen in the MLB all season.
The homer also allowed Bryant to earn his 86th RBI, which ties him him with Billy Williams and Geovany Soto for the most RBI by a rookie during a single season in Chicago’s history. Bryant’s hit was actually Chicago’s first of the game, and it’s safe to say that none of the Cubs ensuing hits in their 6-4 win were even close to as impressive as the first.
There’s a few months of baseball left, but Bryant’s homer might be the most impressive of the 2015 season.
