Miami Marlins’ first baseman Justin Bour launches ball 149-feet in the air and over the fence. It is his sixth home run of the season.
It is a common topic amongst the baseball pundits this year. As a matter of fact, it is the “it” phrase when discussing hitting. Just watch a game on any given network and you will hear it: Launch angle. It is a key indicator of hit quality in combination with speed of the swing.
On average, Major League Baseball players swing with a 14-17 degree angle. Players like Kris Bryant for the Chicago Cubs are working toward 21 degrees. Get the ball in the air and good things can happen.
Well, first baseman Justin Bour of the Miami Marlins took that angle to new heights. Not only did he hit the ball into the seats in Marlins Park, it went above the stadium.
He definitely got under that one — an absolute moonshot. In terms of launch angle, that actual number has not been shared, but estimations of 35 degrees should not be far off. That ball traveled higher than two of the Great Sphinx stacked on top of each other, or the equivalent of 14 stories high.
And, while it may not be the most impressive home run of his career, it stands as the sixth long ball this season for the young Bour. Most balls hit at that end up as pop outs, but this one made it far enough to get the Marlins on the board.
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Get used to the new terminology in MLB. Launch angle will be a topic of discussion for a long time. But, I doubt that we will see hits this high too often. Still, it is impressive.