Watch: Oneil Cruz’s flying bat caught by Birthday girl, Bat changed, Phillies win everyone’s heart
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Oneil Cruz's bat caught by fan
Oneil Cruz is turning out to be one of the Major League Baseball’s future hotshots. He recently was the slugger who smacked the hardest-hit ball in recorded baseball history. On Friday night, Oneil Cruz missed and struck out but let his bat go flying back into the stands behind him at Citizens Bank Park.
The accident that took place was soon turned into a heart-warming incident by the Philadelphia Phillies’ former infielder and team ambassador Mickey Morandini. Oneil Cruz’s lumber landed in Jen Mehall’s lap behind the Phillies dugout, she was extremely delighted to receive the flying bat as it was her birthday.
An inning later, a Pirates official came to request the bat back and offered another one in a trade. This was not taken well by the crowd. Nevertheless, Morandini would gift them a signed Bryce Harper bat and jersey for their troubles. “We wanted to keep it, but security said we couldn’t,” said Mehall, who is originally from Western Pennsylvania.
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Major League Baseball has a legend in the making, Oneil Cruz
Oneil Cruz is breaking out records after records at every moment he is seen on the field, two hours into his Major League career, he pulled a single to right-center field that registered at 118.2 mph. Then, Cruz registered a Sprint Speed of 31.5 feet per second to score with ease.
“At the moment, I didn’t even think I hit the ball that hard,” Oneil Cruz said. “When I came into the dugout, some of my teammates shared that I hit it 122 [mph]. I smiled, but deep down inside, I was like, ‘Wow, I really hit that ball hard.’ Now, finding out that I broke a record, it means a lot to me.”
Oneil Cruz grabbed hold of the hardest-thrown infield assist this season, but he was a couple of ticks short of Fernando Tatis Jr.’s record 97.3 mph dart. That is, until the Pirates’ series finale in Miami. Cruz’s 122.4 mph single had a launch angle of 17 degrees, only been 18 instances during the Statcast era in which a home run was hit on a launch angle of 17 degrees or lower. Maybe, in due time, Cruz becomes part of this list, as well.
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Yagya Bhargava
(611 Articles Published)