Royals player hit a home run so far it couldn’t be accurately measured for distance
Whether it’s game scores or hot streaks, spring-training results often can be deceiving. So it’s best for Royals fans to take what happens in Arizona with a grain of salt.
But raw power is raw power, and that was on display during the Royals’ spring-training game Monday when minor-league outfielder Seuly Matias hit a mammoth home run against Cleveland in Goodyear, Arizona.
“It’s one of the furthest balls I’ve ever seen hit by anybody,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “You know, you see some that are hit every once in a while and you’re like, ‘Dang that looked like it was really far,’ but when you see it almost take off the top of a palm tree that’s behind the scoreboard, it gives a little more perspective to it.
“It looked like the tree blew up. It was pretty fantastic.”
How far did the ball travel? The person compiling the TrackMan information simply told Alec Lewis of The Athletic: “far.”
Royals announcer Steve Physioc estimated it 450 feet during the radio broadcast, while Royals outfielder Nick Heath suggested the ball traveled 520 feet.
The Star’s Sam Mellinger said the Statcast numbers showed it to be a 495-foot home run.
“If that went 500 feet, then there is never going to be a ball hit 500 feet,” Matheny said. “That looked like it was launched out of a potato gun.”
Here is the home run video, which was shared by KCSP’s Josh Vernier on Twitter (the video isn’t great, but watch the guy in the outfield who appears to head out of Goodyear Ballpark to retrieve the ball):
Matias, by the way, is only 22 years old.
The Royals also had a highlight on the defensive side. It was turned in by center fielder Michael A. Taylor, who showed his ability to run down a fly ball.
In the first inning, a Cleveland runner was on first and was certain a ball hit in the gap by Eddie Rosario would fall for a hit. But Taylor ran it down and turned the double play.
Taylor said he is looking forward to playing at Kauffman Stadium.
“I honestly like big outfields,” Taylor said. “Before this year, one of my favorite places to play was in Colorado. They also have a very big outfield and the ball, it seems like it stays in the air forever. So you just have a ton of time to run after the ball, and I enjoy yards like that.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 8:09 AM.
