Jhonkensy Noel Achieves This Career-First, Cleveland Guardians News

Cleveland Guardians' Jhonkensy Noel recorded his first multi-home run game of his career against the Chicago Cubs.

Jul 6, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder Jhonkensy Noel (43) hits an RBI sacrifice fly ball in the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians are a much better power-hitting team than they were last season. One reason for this is the pop Jhonkensy Noel has supplied to the lineup during his rookie season. 

Noel once again showed off that power as he recorded his first multi-home run game of his career against the Chicago Cubs. 

Jul 13, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Cleveland Guardians outfielder Jhonkensy Noel (43) runs the bases after hitting a two run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Noel’s first home run was big in two ways. It gave the Guardians their first lead of the night, and it also sailed astonishingly fast and came off the bat at 106.3 mph. Before this swing, the Guardians were scrapping to find any sort of offense. 

However, Noel broke the game open for Cleveland as they capped off a four-run fourth inning and followed that up with a three-run fifth.

Big Christmas wasn’t done there, though. His next at-bat came in the sixth inning, and Noel hit replay on his previous play appearance, hitting another home run over the left field wall. This one had an exit velocity of 97.9 mph and traveled 378 feet.

Jhonkensy No-Ls.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/2YFrhGaq9d

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 13, 2024

The most important part of these home runs was that neither pitch was reltabliey in the zone. The first homer off Shota Imanaga was an 83 mph slider which was well below the zone, but Noel reached down and got ahold of it. The second homer was another low and-away pitch that the Cleveland slugger pulled.

This just goes to show the raw power Noel possesses. This performance is also just another example of why Noel deserves more at-bats than he’s currently getting.