Once Cincinnati Reds outfielder Aristides Aquino connected with an 84-mph changeup in the third inning Thursday, it was a blink-and-you-missed-it rocket into the second deck in left field.
Aquino crushed a two-run homer off Chicago Cubs lefty Cole Hamels with a 118.3 mph exit velocity, watching the third home run of his career travel 445 feet. It was the hardest-hit ball by a Reds batter since Statcast began tracking data in 2015.
It's tied for the hardest home run, according to exit velocity, in the Major Leagues this season. MLB.com's researcher David Adler wrote on Twitter that the only players to hit a home run that hard since 2015 are Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Pete Alonso.