NEW YORK -- It didn't take long for Bryce Harper to announce his presence to the Mets faithful at Citi Field during the Nationals' 8-3 win on Thursday night -- and the home run he smacked was even faster.
On the fifth pitch of his first at-bat of the night, Harper tattooed a fastball from Robert Gsellman a projected 406 feet down the right-field line to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the first. With a 116.3-mph exit velocity, it was Harper's hardest-hit ball of the Statcast™ Era (since 2015).