Franchy Cordero Hits Hardest Home Run For Red Sox Player During Statcast Era
BOSTON (CBS) -- Sunday was not a great day for the Red Sox. They lost in Philadelphia, which allowed the Rays to move into a tie for first place in the AL East. Eduardo Rodriguez was tagged for four runs in the first inning, and he lasted just four innings while watching his ERA climb to 5.06. At the plate, the Red Sox mustered just three hits and one run in 7.1 innings against Zack Wheeler.
It wasn't very fun. No doubt about it.
There was, however, at least one remarkable moment for the Red Sox, and it came from a somewhat unlikely source.
It was a moment authored by Franchy Cordero, who's certainly left a few things to be desired during his first couple of months with the Red Sox. On Sunday though, he showed the type of power that has made him a notable young player in baseball.
In the top of the eighth inning, Cordero turned around a middle-middle fastball from Wheeler, and he launched it into deep right-center field. The no-doubter finally came down, with a distance of 474 feet.
It was a mammoth shot, and with an exit velocity of 118.6 mph, it was the hardest-hit ball by any Red Sox player since Statcast tracking began in 2015.
At 118.6 MPH, Franchy Cordero's HR is the hardest-hit ball by a @RedSox hitter since 2015. pic.twitter.com/nM5KfJGvVK
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 23, 2021
"He crushed that one," Alex Cora said, saying it was one of the longest home runs he's ever seen."That's way out. I mean, that was impressive."
It was the third-hardest hit ball in all of MLB this season, behind only Giancarlo Stanton (120.1 mph) and Shohei Ohtani (119 mph).
For Cordero, it marked his first home run in a Red Sox uniform. He's still hitting just .179 with a .501 OPS, though he has five extra-base hits in 44 at-bats in May, after hitting just two extra-base hits in 51 at-bats in April. Cordero said a shot like Sunday's could be "helpful" in gaining more confidence in the plate.
"Yeah I have," Cordero said through an interpreter when asked if he's ever hit a ball that far. "But it's been a long time since I've been able to crush a ball like that."