Diamondbacks 31-Year-Old, 215-Pound Outfielder Sets Insane MLB Record

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., despite a respectable eight-year career that saw him named a National League All-Star in 2023, is probably better known for his distinctive, spiky, purple-tinted hairstyle than for his hitting prowess.

But on Tuesday night at Chase Field, the 31-year-old who defected from Cuba in 2016 aside his older brother Yuli — who was designated for assignment by the San Diego Padres in April after a 10-year MLB career — entered the MLB all-time record books in a spectacular but highly unlikely way.

At a relatively modest 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Gurriel Jr. is not known a serious power threat at the plate. In fact, in his eight-year career — five with the Toronto Blue Jays, the last three in Arizona — he has hit just 124 home runs.

This season, according to Statcast, the average exit velocity of balls hit off his bat is 88.5 mph, placing him in the 28th percentile of all MLB players. In other words, 72 percent of all big leaguers hit the ball harder than Gurriel Jr.

More MLB: MLB-Best Brewers Make Disappointing Announcement on 6-Foot-7 Rookie All-Star

On Tuesday, Gurriel came up with a runner on base in the bottom of the eighth inning with Arizona trailing the Padres 5-3. On the mound was the Padres prized trade deadline acquisition, flame-throwing reliever Mason Miller.

With two outs and the count 1-2, Miller fired a 103.9 mph fastball — and Gurriel not only got his bat on the ball, he got around on it so well that he pulled it over the left field fence for a game-tying two-run home run.

Gurriel now owns the record for homering off the fastest pitch ever thrown for a home run, since the pitch-tracking era began in 2008, according to a report by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com.

The home run left Gurriel’s bat at 107.1 mph and traveled 439 feet.

Miller this season has averaged 101.1 on his fastball, placing him in the 100th percentile, which is another way of saying that there is no one who throws faster than the 26-year-old righty.

Los Angeles Angels reliever Ben Joyce was also averaging 101.1 mph, per Statcast, but his season was cut short when he went on the injured list on April 11 and never returned, undergoing shoulder surgery a month later.

Gurriel’s home run broke the record set on Sept. 17 last year by Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs, also off a pitch by Miller who was then with the Oakland Athletics. Happ turned around a 103.2 mph fastball from Miller.

In fact, of the nine fastest pitches ever hit for home runs, Miller has thrown three of them.

The Padres eventually won Tuesday’s game, scoring five runs in the top of the 11th innings for the 10-5 victory.

More MLB: Mets Were Reportedly Among Favorites to Add Mason Miller at Deadline