Nelson Cruz shatters bat; still homers (Video)

Seattle Mariners’ Nelson Cruz hit a home run despite shattering his bat in the process.

There’s strong, and then, apparently, there’s Nelson Cruz.

With one out in the eighth inning of last night’s Yankees-Mariners game, Cruz stepped in against Kirby Yates. The right-hander worked the big slugger with a fastball in on the hands. Cruz dropped the barrel on it, but was still unable to get the fat part of the bat on the ball. He lifted the ball in the air towards left field.

Pop up?

Nope. Home run, and not a wall-scraper, either. All poor Kirby Yates can do is tip his hat to one of the game’s best home run hitters. He made him pitch, but Cruz was simply too strong.

A home run hit with a bat sawed off at the handle brought a little bit of scrutiny. Regardless of the physics involved, there’s no reason to bring a juiced-ball conspiracy theory into the conversation.

While it’s doubtful that Major League Baseball is winding their baseballs a little bit tighter this season just to coax a few more home runs out of its hitters, broken-bat home runs are not something entirely new to the game. Here’s an example courtesy of Jack Howell, who hit only 108 home runs over his entire 11-year career in the big leagues.

Take Cruz’s home run for exactly what it was — an impressive display of strength from a hitter on track for his third-consecutive 40-homer season. When it comes to backspinning a baseball, Cruz is one of the best in the entire league. It’s going to take a lot more than a fastball in on the hands or a shattered bat to get him out.