The 2022 Major League Baseball season had plenty of big headlines — the lockout that delayed the start of the season, the adoption of the universal designated hitter and an expanded playoff system, among many others. There were also countless highlight plays, including towering home runs, that earned millions of views, shares and likes on social media.
In this list, we’re counting down the longest home runs of the 2022 Major League Baseball season, as per Statcast. This list features three entries each from a pair of National League sluggers, some appearances by a perennial MVP candidate and future first-ballot Hall of Famer and, as you might expect, an Aaron Judge sighting. (Videos appear courtesy of MLB.)
Here’s a look at the longest home runs of 2022 in Major League Baseball.
20 (t). Will Smith — 465 feet
Dodgers catcher Will Smith earns a top-20 spot on our list thanks to a home run hit on September 14 at Arizona’s Chase Field against Zach Davies. The Diamondbacks pitcher left a slider high in the strike zone, and Smith made solid contact — driving the baseball with an exit velocity of 106.8 mph. The home run ball landed in the standing room area to the left field side of the batter’s eye, 465 feet from home plate. It was Smith’s 22nd home of a season in which he hit 24.
20 (t). Aaron Judge — 465 feet
You could say that 2022 was a very good year for Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. The slugger hit 62 home runs to break Roger Maris’s long-standing single-season Yankees record, led the major leagues in multiple offensive categories and set himself up for a big off-season payday. Given the number of home runs that Judge hit, it’s only fitting for one of his blasts to appear on this list. Judge’s longest home run of the season was his 36th, which came on July 22 in Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Judge connected with a changeup from Tyler Wells, pounding the ball 465 feet over the center field bullpens. The blast had an exit velocity of 113.5 mph.
19. C.J. Cron — 466 feet
Here’s a spoiler: This won’t be the last time you see C.J. Cron’s name on this list. The Colorado first baseman is known for his power, and he hit a number of memorable home runs in 2022. His fourth of the season, hit on April 16 at Coors Field against Chicago’s Mark Leiter Jr., is one that many that Rockies fans will remember. In chilly conditions, Cron crushed a fastball 466 feet to the concourse behind the left field seats. The home run had an exit velocity of 110.9 mph and played a small part in helping Cron to earn his first All-Star Game nod.
15 (t). Kyle Schwarber — 467 feet
Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber had an All-Star season in 2022, thanks in part to his National League-leading 46 home runs. His 37th long ball of the campaign came on September 10, off a hanging slider from Nationals pitcher Cory Abbott. Schwarber connected with an exit velocity of 111.4 mph, launching the ball 467 feet into the visitors bullpen at Citizens Bank Park — an area of the ballpark that few home runs reach.
15 (t). Dermis Garcia — 467 feet
Oakland first baseman Dermis Garcia hit five home runs in 39 games as a rookie, but none was more impressive than his long ball at Nationals Park on August 31. Just one day after hitting his first big league home run, Garcia followed up with his second career dinger. While the A’s broadcast was still showing a highlight of his home run from a day earlier, Garcia ripped a changeup from veteran Aníbal Sánchez 467 feet deep into the left field seats. The home run, which had an exit velocity of 110.6 mph, is the longest of Garcia’s young career.
15 (t). Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — 467 feet
Although his power numbers were down in 2022 compared to a season earlier, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. still managed 32 long balls. His first of the campaign came on April 10 at Rogers Centre. The young slugger turned around a pitch from Spencer Howard in a hurry, driving the baseball 467 feet with an exit velocity of 117.9 mph into the elevated party deck in straightaway center field.
15 (t). Christian Walker — 467 feet
Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker hit 36 home runs in 2022, and his longest round tripper was his fourth of the campaign. Playing at Chase Field on April 24 against the Mets, Walker connected on a fastball from Tylor Megill and launched a towering shot deep to left-center field. The ball, which left Walker’s bat at 110.5 mph, made it to the elevated deck beyond the outfield seats, 467 feet from home plate.
12 (t). Brandon Drury — 468 feet
Brandon Drury’s 28 home runs in 2022 helped him to win his first Silver Slugger Award, but it was his 27th of the season that earned him a spot on this list. Facing Madison Bumgarner at Chase Field, Drury reached to the bottom of the strike zone to connect with a cutter, lifting the ball high and deep with an exit velocity of 105.2 mph. The 468-foot home run landed deep in the left-center field seats.
12 (t). Jorge Soler — 468 feet
Jorge Soler’s second home run of the season, which came on April 29, will go down as his most impressive of 2022. Facing Seattle’s Matt Brash at LoanDepot Park, the slugger jumped on a fastball in the center of the strike zone and launched it 468 feet with an exit velocity of 117.6 mph. The baseball smacked off the windows high above left-center field — a spot of the ballpark that home runs almost never reach.
12 (t). Kyle Schwarber — 468 feet
Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber earns his second mention on this list thanks to a towering blast hit at Coors Field on April 20. Schwarber connected on a fastball from Germán Márquez and launched the ball 468 feet with an exit velocity of 110.3 mph. The baseball made it all the way to Coors Field’s upper deck. While the blast isn’t one of the 10 longest home runs hit at the Denver ballpark, it’s not far from being out of the top 10.
10 (t). Yordan Alvarez — 469 feet
When you hear the name of Yordan Alvarez, there’s a good chance that you think of a long-distance home run. While it might come as a surprise that the young slugger only has one entry on this list, his home run in Oakland on May 30 is certainly one to remember. Alvarez squared up a changeup from Paul Blackburn with an exit velocity of 113.9 mph, blasting the baseball 469 feet to the facing of the second deck. The blast is Alvarez’s longest home run to date and was the second-longest home run hit at the Oakland Coliseum in 2022.
10 (t). Byron Buxton — 469 feet
Twins outfielder Byron Buxton displayed impressive power at the plate in 2022, with 28 home runs in just 92 games. His longest drive of the season came back on April 24, during a chilly day against the White Sox at Target Field. With his team trailing by a run in the 10th inning, Buxton caught up with a fastball from Liam Hendricks and launched the ball 469 feet to a spot just shy of the upper deck. The home run, which had an exit velocity of 111.8 mph, is the only walk-off home run on this list.
9. Mike Trout — 472 feet
Mike Trout’s first appearance on this list — but not his last — is thanks to an impressive long ball hit on April 14 at Globe Life Field in Arlington. In his first at-bat of the game, Trout reached to the outer part of the plate to connect with a slider from Dane Dunning, sending the baseball into orbit with an exit velocity of 112.9 mph. The baseball soared 472 feet, smacking off the batter’s eye in straightaway center field.
8. Gary Sanchez — 473 feet
Gary Sanchez hit 138 home runs as a member of the Yankees, but he wasn’t wearing pinstripes when he blasted a home run at Yankee Stadium in 2022. In his first year with the Twins, the power-hitting catcher launched a home run against former teammate Jameson Taillon on September 5. The 473-foot blast, which left Sanchez’s bat at 115.1 mph, came just short of clearing the bleachers in left field.
7. C.J. Cron — 486 feet
Any baseball that reaches the left field concourse at Coors Field is a mammoth shot, and that’s exactly where a home run from C.J. Cron landed on June 17. Facing San Diego’s MacKenzie Gore, Cron crushed a curveball on the inside half of the plate 486 feet with an exit velocity of 111.2 mph. The long ball was Cron’s 16th of a 29-home run season.
6. Kyle Schwarber — 488 feet
One of the big stories of the National League Championship Series was Kyle Schwarber’s tape measure home run. The blast, which came in Game 1 on October 18 at Petco Park, helped the Phillies win the game 2-0 before they eventually claimed the series in five games. Schwarber demolished a cutter from Yu Darvish with an exit velocity of 119.7 mph (the highest EV on this list) and sent the baseball 488 feet into the ballpark’s second deck.
5. Mike Trout — 490 feet
Even though he battled injuries that limited him to 119 games in 2022, Mike Trout had another memorable campaign, earning both an All-Star Game nod and a Silver Slugger Award. Trout hit 40 home runs, and saved his longest for number 40 — a towering shot that came off Norge Ruiz at the Oakland Coliseum. The home run, which had an exit velocity of 110.6 mph, landed in the seats above the batter’s eye. The Angels broadcast initially reported the home run as being 452 feet, but it was later estimated at 490 feet.
4. Ryan McMahon — 495 feet
It’s all Coors Field, all the time in our list from here on out — a fact that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Colorado’s Ryan McMahon sits just outside of the top three, thanks to a 495-foot shot that came on August 9 against St. Louis. McMahon cracked a low changeup from T.J. McFarland with an exit velocity of 110.4 mph, driving the baseball into the seats above the bullpen area in center field.
3. Jesús Sánchez — 496 feet
On May 30 at Coors Field, Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez made highlight reels by hitting a baseball to a part of the ballpark that seems unreachable. Sánchez connected with a slider from Ryan Feltner and pounded the baseball 496 feet to the concourse behind the seats of the third deck high above right field. The blast had an exit velocity of 114.7 mph. Say what you want about Denver’s thin air, but this would be an impressive home run at any park in baseball.
2. Christian Yelich — 499 feet
Christian Yelich’s 12th home run of the season, which came at Coors Field on September 6, is the longest of the outfielder’s career. Yelich hit the 499-foot blast off Chad Kuhl, hammering a changeup with an exit velocity of 109.9 mph. The baseball sailed into the third deck in right-center field at the Denver ballpark.
1. C.J. Cron — 504 feet
C.J. Cron makes three appearances on this list, but it’s a memorable blast on September 9 that earns him the 2022 crown. On the first pitch that he saw from Keynan Middleton during a fourth-inning at-bat, Cron turned on an inside fastball and obliterated the ball 504 feet with an exit velocity of 110 mph. The home run, which was Cron’s 27th of the season, barely stayed in fair territory as it cleared the left field fence and landed near a Toyota Tundra pickup truck clad in Rockies colors on display. At 504 feet, the blast was not only the longest of 2022, but also the second-longest home run measured during the Statcast era.
The Longest Home Runs of the 2022 MLB Season are:
1. C.J. Cron — 504 feet
2. Christian Yelich — 499 feet
3. Jesús Sánchez — 496 feet
4. Ryan McMahon — 495 feet
5. Mike Trout — 490 feet
6. Kyle Schwarber — 488 feet
7. C.J. Cron — 486 feet
8. Gary Sanchez — 473 feet
9. Mike Trout — 472 feet
10 (t). Byron Buxton — 469 feet
10 (t). Yordan Alvarez — 469 feet
12 (t). Kyle Schwarber — 468 feet
12 (t). Jorge Soler — 468 feet
12 (t). Brandon Drury — 468 feet
15 (t). Christian Walker — 467 feet
15 (t). Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — 467 feet
15 (t). Dermis Garcia — 467 feet
15 (t). Kyle Schwarber — 467 feet
19. C.J. Cron — 466 feet
20 (t). Aaron Judge — 465 feet
20 (t). Will Smith — 465 feet