After Kris Bryant hit a goddamn moonshot off the video board during Saturday’s 8-7 loss to Pittsburgh, the people at ESPN released a pretty interesting statistic as it relates to the Cubs and hitting the long ball.
Bryant’s 465-foot shot was the fifth longest home run hit by a Cubs player since 2009. Who are the other four players you ask?
Longest Home Run by a Cub – Since 2009
475 Anthony Rizzo
471 Kris Bryant*
467 Kris Bryant
466 Anthony Rizzo
465 Kris Bryant
*on road https://t.co/u1c529rizN— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 15, 2017
As you can see, the pair that is better known as Bryzzo hold a firm grasp on the five longest home runs hit by a Cubs player since 2009. Please note: this is a list since 2009, not the entirety of Cubs history. I don’t think it’s fair to compare Bryzzo’s shots to the roided up Sammy Sosa or Glenallen Hill. Sure, those two hit the ball farther but they also allegedly were doped up so let’s keep it in perspective here.
It’s wild to think about it but when I saw this statistic, I immediately thought about two of Kyle Schwarber’s bombs that he hit in 2015: the Wild Card home run against the Pirates and the score board shot at Wrigley against the Cardinals.
One of the two of those had to crack the top five right? I mean, one landed in a river and the other bounced on top of the damn video board at Wrigley.
Surprisingly, the Wild Card home run off Gerrit Cole went 450-feet and the video board shot “only” went 419-feet. As you can see, the War Bear is still about 15 feet from claiming one of the top five spots from Bryzzo.
So, I thought I’d dig into the archives and re-visit the top 5 longest home runs by a Cub since 2009 (spoiler alert: it’s Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant)
