Contreras crushed his own mark for exit velocity on Tuesday's HR
The Willson Contreras home run in the first inning Tuesday off Milwaukee's Eric Lauer was literally a rocket.
Statcast measured it at 116 mph off the bat, making it the hardest-hit home run ever by Contreras, the hardest-hit by a Cubs player since 2018 and the fourth-hardest in MLB this season.
"To be honest, I was speaking to Jason Heyward today and we were talking about the hardest-hit balls and all the guys who hit the ball hardest in MLB," Contreras said before Wednesday's game. "I know that I hit it well, I know that I hit a line drive, but I didn't expect to hit it at 116. It surprised me. I thought it was at least 110, 109, but 116 was kind of surprising."
According to Statcast, Contreras has hit one ball harder in his major league career, and that was on April 18 against Tampa Bay when a line out measured 116.2 mph.
The Statcast numbers on baseballsavant.com go back to 2015. The only Cubs home run with a higher exit velocity was struck by Kyle Schwarber on April 24, 2018, when he hit a low, 117 mph line-drive home run at Cleveland.
The highest exit velocity home run in the majors this season was by Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (117.9), followed by former Cub Jorge Soler (117.6), the Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton (116.3) and Contreras.
Was the hit something to be proud of, or just another home run?
"If it was just a base hit, I'll take it," Contreras said. "If it was a double, I'll take it. It was a homer and good for us, it helped us win the game. I'm glad I was able to make contact."
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