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This is the hardest-hit home run ever recorded. And it came off the bat of a former Yankees prospect who once wowed A-Rod and was traded away in a forgettable deal.
Diamondbacks prospect Peter O’Brien set the record in a spring training game Tuesday with a homer that had a blistering exit velocity of 119.5 mph. The blast was projected to go 461.6 feet, had it not struck the left-field concourse.
The sample size only dates back to the start of 2015, true, when Statcast was implemented to track all balls in play. But encompassing more than 92,000 batted balls, it’s the hardest-hit homer and third overall — behind a single (120.3 mph) and a double (119.7) last season by Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
When O’Brien was a Yankees farmhand, Alex Rodriguez raved: “Pete O’Brien has real power.” Reggie Jackson told O’Brien a moonshot he crushed at Double-A Trenton was the most impressive home run he had ever seen hit in the minor leagues.
O’Brien, now 25, was traded to Arizona at the 2014 deadline for infielder Martin Prado, who aided an ill-fated Yankees playoff push. His prospect status has been undermined by throwing yips that forced him to abandon the catcher position — can he play first base? corner outfield? — but the pop in his bat never has been questioned. Now it’s setting records.