Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton hits 119.9 mph home run, hardest-hit ball in majors this season

Updated May. 8, 2024 11:20 p.m. ET

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton hit a 119.9 mph home run Wednesday night against the Houston Astros, the hardest-hit ball in the majors this season.

In the third inning of New York’s 9-4 victory, Stanton pulled a 1-2 curveball from rookie starter Spencer Arrighetti into the second deck in left field at Yankee Stadium, just inside the foul pole.

The 447-foot drive came one night after Stanton rocketed a 118.8 mph homer off Justin Verlander in Tuesday’s 10-3 win over the Astros that manager Aaron Boone described as a 2-iron.

“I don’t know,” Boone said when asked to describe Stanton’s homer Wednesday. “Just weird. Hashtag weird.”

It was Stanton’s third hardest-hit home run since Statcast tracking began in 2015. He launched a 121.7 mph drive off the bat against Texas in August 2018 — the big league record in the Statcast era — and a 121.3 mph shot at Washington in July 2020 that ranks second.

The home run was also the fifth hardest-hit homer tracked by Statcast. Atlanta star Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a 121.2 mph shot last September at Dodger Stadium, and Yankees teammate Aaron Judge crushed a 121.1 mph drive in June 2017 against Baltimore.

Stanton’s solo shot gave New York a 5-1 lead, two batters after Judge opened the inning with his eighth home run.

It was the third time this season the duo went deep in the same game. The Yankees are 34-4 when Judge and Stanton homer in the same game, including the postseason.

“I feel like the night before he had the hardest hit in baseball,” Judge said. “Then he outdid himself again tonight. Just impressive. He’s staying through the baseball well, using the whole field. When he’s using the whole field, that’s when I know he’s locked in.

“It’s been fun to watch him do his thing this year for sure, especially trying to bounce back after last year."

Stanton is hitting .228 with eight homers and 20 RBIs. Last season, he missed two months with a hamstring injury and batted a career-low .191 with 24 homers and 60 RBIs as the Yankees finished 82-80 and barely avoided their first losing season since 1992.

Judge and Stanton homered after Juan Soto hit a two-run shot on the first pitch he saw in the first inning. It was the first time the power trio all went deep in the same game for the Yankees.

“G, it's just how hard he hit the ball is amazing," Soto said. “You don't see guys hitting balls 120 (mph) every day.”

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