Kennys Vargas hit the second longest home run in 2017. Who?

It's not surprising that Aaron Judge has hit the longest home run this season: 496 feet. But how many fans know that the second longest home run of the season was hit by Kennys Vargas: 483 feet? How many fans could even identify Kennys Vargas?

Kennys Vargas, Twins at Orioles 5/23/17 by Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, via Wikimedia Commons

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/top_true_distance.php

This is not to denigrate Kennys Vargas but to illustrate how prevalent very long home runs are this season. Vargas also hit the 21st longest home run of 2017.

In 176 at bats (AB) Vargas has hit 8 home runs (HR). Here is the spread of those HR:

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/detail.php?id=2017_2669&type=hitter

3 of 8 are at least 457 feet. That's the distance to left center in the old Yankee Stadium. That area was called "Death Valley" by Yankee catcher and right handed hitter Elston Howard, 1963 AL MVP. Only 1 of 8 was shorter than 401 feet: 357 and described by the hit tracker website as between "just enough" and "lucky" and his only HR with an exit velocity (speed off the bat) less than 100 mph: 93.5. See the glossary:

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/glossary.php

Even including the shorty, the average distance of Vargas HR is 428.5 feet.

Vargas is huge: 6'5", 290 pounds. But come on. The balls are juiced.

Titleist baseballs for exceptional exit velocity and 1,000 foot Home Runs. Friday, June 23, 2017