Fastball

Miami Marlins Outfielder Jesús Sánchez Crushes Longest Home Run of MLB Season

Jesús Sánchez went yard off of Cincinnati Reds reliever Jakob Junis on Monday night, belting a 480-foot home run to get the Miami Marlins on the board.
Sam Connon|
Jul 4, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Jesus Sanchez (12) reacts on his way to home plate after hitting a two-run home run against the Boston Red Sox during the eleventh inning at loanDepot Park.
Jul 4, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Jesus Sanchez (12) reacts on his way to home plate after hitting a two-run home run against the Boston Red Sox during the eleventh inning at loanDepot Park. | Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

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Miami MarlinsCincinnati Reds

The Miami Marlins were in the midst of getting blown out by the Cincinnati Reds when Jesús Sánchez delivered a massive shot in the arm.

Sánchez stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the sixth with his team down 7-0. Jakob Junis had just come in to relieve Nick Martinez, who tossed 5.0 scoreless innings and only let two runners advance to second base.

Junis, meanwhile, threw just three pitches before Sánchez touched 'em all.

Sánchez got a hold of Junis' 85 mile-per-hour changeup right down the middle, sending it flying 116.4 miles per hour with a launch angle of 27 degrees. That resulted in a 480-foot home run to right-center, making it the longest home run across all of MLB so far this season.

The longest home run of Sánchez's career remains his 496-foot bomb at Coors Field on May 30, 2022, but the 480-footer he belted Monday was unassisted by altitude. It is also the second-longest home run by any Miami player in the 2020s, again only trailing his career-long homer in Denver.

As it turned out, Sánchez's homer didn't exactly resurrect the rest of the Marlins' lineup. Sánchez drove in another run on a groundout in the seventh, and Jonah Bride added an RBI single soon after, but Miami went on to lose 10-3.

Sánchez is now batting .241 with 13 home runs, 42 RBI, eight stolen bases and a .703 OPS this year. He entered Monday with a 0.7 WAR through 102 games, though, making 2024 his least efficient season yet.

The 26-year-old outfielder is one of the few franchise cornerstones the Marlins held onto past last week's trade deadline. After sending Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres in May, Miami also shipped off starting pitcher Trevor Rogers, closer Tanner Scott, reliever Bryan Hoeing, reliever AJ Puk, first baseman Josh Bell, outfielder Bryan De La Cruz and outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. to round out July.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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