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Leandro Cedeno isn’t likely to forget this home run anytime soon.
A first baseman in the Diamondbacks system, Cedeno unleashed a mammoth 527-foot home run for the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles on Saturday night against the San Antonio Missions in a Texas League game.
Cedeno, 23, smashed a 3-0 pitch from Padres prospect Nolan Watson to left-center field in the fifth inning, tying the game 5–5 at his home ballpark.
It was a beautiful blast, even if the Sod Poodles were wearing ugly holiday sweater jerseys as part of a Christmas in July promotion. The homer is longer than any MLB home run hit during the Statcast era, which dates to 2015. (Nomar Mazara holds the distinction of the longest MLB homer during that span with a 505-foot shot on June 21, 2019, for the Rangers against the White Sox.)
The Sod Poodles went on to outlast the Missions for a 7–6 win.
It doesn’t hurt that Cedeno’s home run occurred at Hodgetown, which sits approximately 3,600 feet above sea level, and the game-time temperature was conducive to flight at 101 degrees.
“That’s amazing. I never think I can hit a ball that far,” Cedeno said, per MLB.com. “I was for sure [it was a] homer. I stepped up to the plate like ‘O.K., I got that one,’ and I enjoyed the moment.”
Cedeno, a native of Guatire, Venezuela, is hitting .303/.374/.919 and ranks fourth in the Texas League with 18 home runs this season.
