Jesus Sanchez has future trade suitors salivating with longest HR in MLB this year

The Miami Marlins are more than halfway through their season from hell. Not much has gone right for the Marlins in 2024. Less than a year removed from an improbable postseason appearance, Miami is 42-70. Only the perpetually basement-dwelling Colorado Rockies are lower in the standings. This squad is in absolute free fall.

The Kim Ng exit was a bad omen. Now, Jazz Chisholm has been traded to the New York Yankees of all teams, where he looks fantastic. With Chisholm went the Marlins' beating heart. Skip Schumaker, widely acclaimed and undeniably good at his job, will probably leave for a better situation at season's end. It's hard to be positive about what's going on in South Beach.

Still, there are brief moments of positivity. Miami did receive a haul of prospects at the trade deadline, including several high-wattage bats. There is real offensive firepower scattered throughout the roster. Take, for example, 26-year-old outfielder Jesus Sanchez, who is about to command a ton of trade interest in the months following this season.

Sanchez rocketed his 13th home run of the campaign on Monday, and man did he rocket it. If you're ever wondering what the difference is between a home run and a moonshot, here's a prime example of the latter.

His sixth-inning bomb against the Cincinnati Reds traveled 480 feet into the largely unmanned upper deck of LoanDepot Park. That is the longest home run of the 2024 season to date, besting Shohei Ohtani's 476-foot skyscraper in June.

Marlins' Jesus Sanchez hits longest home run of the 2024 MLB season against Reds

Sanchez entered Monday's affair slashing .241/.289/.407 through 332 at-bats. He survived the trade deadline, but it's hard not to wonder what the future holds for the talented right fielder. He's under contract through 2027, still in the arbitration stage, but Miami has shown no hesitation to deal controllable assets. This is a team starved for value in its farm system and looking to smash the reset button.

There is a strong case that Sanchez should be viewed as part of the Marlins' foundation. He needs to work on his discipline at the plate, cutting down on strikeouts and working counts more diligently. But, in terms of raw power, raw talent, few bats measure up to Sanchez. He's above the 80th percentile in expected slugging percentage, exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, and bat speed, per Baseball Savant. The D.R. native is capable of putting lumber on leather in profoundly explosive ways.

Contenders around the league will watch this Sanchez home run and salivate. Fans in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia are positively giddy with excitement, envisioning the leap Sanchez could take in a more competitive environment. Miami fans, meanwhile, are dreading what already feels inevitable. Another major talent dealt away before his contract value spikes, because the Marlins can't help but cheap out.

It's a sad cycle, but the Miami fandom should take solace in the present. Sanchez is still on the team and he's still raking baseballs like he's using Thor's hammer. Savor it for however long it lasts.