Luis Robert Jr. Hit a Ball Literally Out of the Stadium
White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. has some serious power. He leads all big league center fielders with 31 home runs this season, including four that traveled at least 430 feet. He’s the kind of guy who you might say can hit the ball clear out of the stadium. In fact, he did exactly that on Wednesday night against the Yankees.
In the third inning, New York starter Luis Severino hung a changeup in the upper part of the zone that Robert jumped on. Unfortunately for Robert, he pounced on it a little too eagerly and pulled it foul, but he made such solid contact with the pitch that he hit it over the roof and completely out of the stadium.
As if seeing the ball fly over the roof wasn’t impressive enough, thanks to Statcast we have even more information about how Robert crushed that pitch. It traveled an estimated 472 feet and had an exit velocity of 114.7 mph. That’s faster than any fair ball Robert has hit this season.
Another thing that makes Robert such an exciting player is his combination of power and speed. After blasting the ball out of the stadium, he reached on a single and then promptly stole second and and third base.