San Diego Padres: MLB Needs To Take Notice Of Franchy Cordero

Whether you missed last night’s action or you just want to re-live it again and again, take a look at how Franchy Cordero froze Statcast.

It took a little while to get the official measurements, however, Franchy Cordero showcased pure strength that very few in Major League Baseball have. His fourth-inning home run off Matt Koch not only gave the San Diego Padres an early lead, it also broke Statcast.

Here’s the jaw-dropping home run for you to watch again and again and again.

It’s hard to tell exactly where this ball lands once it left the stratosphere. Here’s Fangraphs and The Athletic contributor Sung Min Kim to help us locate it.

Per Statcast (once it recovered from system shock), Cordero’s home run went 489 feet with a launch angle of 29 degrees and an exit velocity of over 116 miles per hour.

It is now the longest hit home run in the league this season, the longest home run by a Padres’ player in the Statcast era, and is the 10th longest home run in all of baseball since the introduction of Statcast.

Hey, Rob Manfred, listen up! You want fans coming to baseball games? You want kids getting hyped to emulate their favorite stars on the diamond? Want to give more hope to young baseball players in the Dominican Republic that they can also one day be a major leaguer? Put Franchy Cordero in the home run derby!

This year’s All-Star game is at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. It’s the perfect opportunity to expose the other half of the country to a budding star.

I may or may not be salivating at the thought of a young San Diego Padres’ outfielder flexing on Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper in the nation’s capital if you couldn’t tell.

Now, let’s address what else he did last night. It’s no secret among Padres’ fans that Franchy Cordero is a freakish athlete with all of the tools to become an elite Major League Baseball player. We are also well aware of his flaws, like an enormous strikeout rate and defensive struggles to judge a baseball as it comes off the bat.

Here’s the misplayed ball that resulted in the end of a Tyson Ross no-hitter in the 8th inning.

Cordero had 4.7 seconds to travel just 50 feet to make the catch. Statcast gives this type of play a 99% probability of being caught.

Cordero has that first step capability. It was a lapse of judgment which is sure to never happen again. This play could lead itself to become a prime example of how much leadership this team really has.

Next: Tyson Ross Flirts With A No-No

There was a lot of anger directed towards Cordero on Friday night after missing that catch. Let it go. He’s a young rookie who is going to make mistakes. Tyson Ross wasn’t going to make it through all nine innings. Just let it go, Friar faithful.

When you look back at Friday night’s game, just remember this.