Travis Shaw Hit A 465-Foot Cock Rocket That Is Tied For The Longest Home Run Of The Year And Is The Hardest Hit Homer Of The Season
Back-to-back Brewers blogs. No, we haven’t launched Barstool Milwaukee; the Brewers have just been that much fun to watch so far this year. Eric Thames and his incredible display of power to start the season has been the biggest reason why, but my man Travis Shaw hasn’t been far off. Brewers Baseball — Come for the Mayor of Ding Dong City and stay for the Eric Thames Show. Last night, Thames hit his major league-leading eighth home run of the season, but in the first inning, Shaw absolutely crushed his fifth.
Shaw loves the first inning, apparently. 16 games into the season, among major leaguers with at least 8 appearances in the first inning, Shaw has the second highest first-inning OPS (2.045) in the MLB. Guess who’s right behind him? Thames (1.461). Duh. Shaw is also hitting .500 in the first inning this year with two of his five homers coming in the first, along with two of his seven doubles and his lone triple.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Shaw’s home run last night traveled 465 feet, which is tied for the second longest home run of the season, and with an exit velocity of 116.9 MPH, it was the hardest hit home run so far in 2017. Through 16 games, he’s hitting a modest .254, even though he’s got a way above average .944 OPS. That’s because 13 of his 16 hits have gone for extra bases. He’s got seven doubles, a triple and five homers. Just three singles. Singles are for pussies.
Note: For some reason, his baseball-reference page wasn’t updated when the blog was originally posted so some numbers were off. All updated now.