Blue Jays prospect hits homer harder than most MLB stars can

Cristian Feliz might still have some work to do to make it up to the major leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays, but he’s certainly putting on a show for those watching him.

In a game on Tuesday night for the Dunedin Blue Jays, the 21-year-old Dominican-born outfielder absolutely rocked the socks off a baseball.

In the top of the seventh inning with the Jays’ Single-A affiliate already holding a 10-3 lead and with a runner on first base, Feliz hit the ball over the right-field fence at a speed of 116.1 miles per hour, the hardest hit ball in the Florida State League this season.

Cristian Feliz, that ball had a family!

The @BlueJays prospect records the hardest-hit ball in the Florida State League this season with a 116.1 mph (!!) homer for the @DunedinBlueJays. pic.twitter.com/m8wWuZsG19

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 3, 2024

A look at the MLB’s Statcast leaderboards from this season shows exactly how hard the home run was from the Blue Jays prospect. Just 12 players in the MLB have hit the 116 mph mark this year, with Feliz’s dinger topping the exit velocity of players like Juan Soto (115.7), Jesus Sanchez (115.7) and former Blue Jay Rowdy Tellez (115.5).

But despite clearly having figured out how to hit the ball really hard, there’s still plenty of work to be done for Feliz to show that he’s worthy of a call-up to the major leagues.

Feliz has 11 home runs in 218 at-bats this year at the Single-A level, he’s hitting just .183 with a .287 on-base percentage. He is not currently ranked on MLB.com’s list of Toronto’s top 30 prospects.

Even if Feliz might be lightyears away from a big league call-up, the Jays could probably use a few more power bats in their lineup, as they rank 25th in the MLB with just 78 home runs on the year.

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