Salt Lake Bees outfielder Jo Adell’s minor league-leading 20th home run of the season might have broken some modern records. Maybe even all of them.
Adell hit a 514-foot homer in the eighth inning of last night’s game against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, the Triple-A affiliate for the Houston Astros.
It was the longest home run recorded this season at any level of baseball. And it either clocks in at No. 1 or No. 2 in the history of the StatCast Era (the tracking technology pro baseball adopted in 2015).
According to the Salt Lake Bees, it was the longest homer tracked since baseball adopted StatCast. The other top shots included Nomar Mazara hitting a 505-foot homer in 2019 against the White Sox. Former Utah baseball player CJ Cron hit a 504-foot bomb against the Diamondbacks.
But Adell’s 514-foot shot doesn’t appear to be the top spot. Last year, Diamondbacks’ prospect Leandro Cedeno hit a homer 527 feet.
Either way, Adell’s homer was smoked. It was tracked at a 113.6 mph exit velocity.
Adell is hitting .284 in the minors this year with 50 RBIs. He was briefly called up to the Angels last month, where he hit a home run in his lone start before being sent back down.
He was once one of baseball’s top prospects, but struggled after making the Opening Day roster last year. Currently the path for Adell to be called back up to the Angels looks difficult as the major league club has an overabundance of outfielders.
Mainly, Adell was sent down last season to work on his fielding and contact rate. For now, the Bees will certainly welcome his power at the plate.