Stanton at it again with another monster HR

Speaking about the potency of the Yankees’ lineup, Giancarlo Stanton once remarked that he would “feel sorry for the baseballs.” That has certainly held true early this season, as the designated hitter has put on an impressive power display in the nation’s capital. Stanton homered for the second time in

Speaking about the potency of the Yankees’ lineup, Giancarlo Stanton once remarked that he would “feel sorry for the baseballs.” That has certainly held true early this season, as the designated hitter has put on an impressive power display in the nation’s capital.

Stanton homered for the second time in as many games on Saturday, mashing a solo homer off the Nationals’ Erick Fedde that was projected by Statcast to have traveled 483 feet. The ball came off Stanton’s bat at 121.3 mph, making it the second-hardest homer hit since the tracking system was installed in 2015.

The Nationals pulled away for a 9-2 victory, but Stanton’s fourth-inning drive to left-center field trimmed Washington’s lead to one run at the time. Stanton also owns the hardest-hit homer in Statcast history, a blast that had a 121.7 mph exit velocity in 2018. Saturday’s 483-foot homer was Stanton’s longest as a Yankee, and his second-longest all-time, trailing a 504-footer that he clobbered on Aug. 6, 2016, while with the Marlins.

The top 10 hardest-hit homers since Statcast started tracking have all been hit by either Stanton or teammate Aaron Judge.

The 30-year-old Stanton was limited to just 18 games last season by various injuries. He has now hit a Major League-leading 83 home runs with an exit velocity of 110 mph or more since 2015; Nelson Cruz is second with 55.

“There’s always going to be noise around a player of Giancarlo’s status and caliber,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said prior to Saturday’s game. “I think it’s great that he went out and had such a productive first game and in a lot of ways was the difference in the game. … I thought his game plan was excellent; all the things he’s been doing the last few weeks to get ready for these games have been working towards that. I’m really happy for him to see him go out and really take over again.”

Stanton hit a 459-foot blast off Max Scherzer on Opening Night.

Bryan Hoch has covered the Yankees for MLB.com since 2007. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and Facebook.