In the Statcast era, just two major league hitters have hit 500-foot home runs. Giancarlo Stanton, unsurprisingly, is one of them. The other, a bit more surprisingly, is Nomar Mazara.
This season for the Brooklyn Cyclones, outfielder Stanley Consuegra did something Stanton-esque (or Mazara-esque) when he hit a home run that went an estimated 504 feet.
“I had no idea it was going to be a 500-foot homer, but I knew he hit it hard, I knew he hit it far,” hitting coach Richie Benes said. “… But I’m not surprised he’s capable of hitting a 500-foot homer. Everything he hits is hard. Even when he gets jammed, it’s like a 100 miles per hour.”
Consuegra said he didn’t find out until he saw it on social media after the fact when people started sending him messages.
“It felt good, like a lot of balls that [I] hit hard,” Consuegra said through Benes, who was a translator. “[I] knew that [I] hit it well because it went over the scoreboard, but [I] had no idea it went that far.”
The ball disappeared into the trees behind the left-field wall at Maimonides park in Brooklyn, endangering some of the light-up signs at the original Nathan’s.
“That’s the kind of pop he has,” manager Luis Rivera said.
Consuegra was promoted from Low-A St. Lucie on July 4 and has gotten off to a really solid start to his Cyclones tenure. In 17 games through Wednesday, July 27, he’s hit .239/.320/.478 with two homers, one triple and eight doubles.
He was hitting well in St. Lucie, slashing .251/.324/.431, but the power numbers are noticeably up since he got to Brooklyn. He has 16 hits this season in high-A, and 11 of them have gone for extra bases. In such a small amount of time, he’s already moved up to the top-10 in extra-base hits of hitters still currently on the Cyclones in just a fraction of the at-bats.
Consuegra was promoted from St. Lucie on the same day as another St. Lucie outfielder, Alex Ramirez. The Mets No. 4 prospect on MLB Pipeline, Ramirez has also been hitting well since being promoted, as he and Consuegra have provided a nice offensive boost to the middle of the lineup.
“They’ve been huge,” Cyclones’ first baseman JT Schwartz said. “I feel like the last couple weeks since they’ve been here, it’s been like a different team. Those guys are electric, they’re super talented, they’ve definitely brought a lot of good things to the lineup, so it’s helped us a lot.”
Benes said Consuegra and Ramirez are close, and that he thinks it’s a good thing they were promoted together.
“They’ve played together for as long as they’ve been in the organization,” Benes said. “In spring training, they would be pushing each other, giving each other advice on what they’re doing with their swing, even sometimes the both of them would be helping other guys at the same time, giving other guys advice. … I think that was a great move.”
Rivera said Consuegra is an outstanding defensive player with a great arm in right field and a bat that can hit with power. The biggest thing he’s been working on, Rivera said, is refining his strike zone, swinging at better pitches and not chasing as much.
“He knows for him to play in the big leagues and to keep going up the ladder, he needs to learn that adjustment,” Rivera said.
It’s something that Benes has seen him improve on over the years, as he is getting more selective with what he swings at. He said Consuegra was a free swinger when they first met, but his approach has improved throughout the years.
“Stanley, he’s been doing a good job,” Benes said. “It’s been fun to watch him grow since 2019 when I met him when I first started with the organization. He’s always been good, but to see him develop the way he has developed physically and mentally at the plate, it’s been great.”
The mental side of the game, Benes said, can be the most challenging for players when they move up levels.
“These guys physically are not much different from each other, especially [Consuegra], he’s very, very athletic,” Benes said. “He can run, he can throw, he’s got power, but the mental part is gonna be the challenge cause as you climb levels, guys are a little more accurate with every single pitch. And he’s gotta be ready to sometimes sit slider, sometimes sit fastball, sometimes sit changeup, so being able to discipline himself to be able to make those adjustments from at-bat to at-bat on a daily basis, that’s the challenge.”
Making those adjustments at-bat to at-bat is one of the biggest differences Consuegra has seen between Low-A and High-A.
“The pitchers are better here, and you have to be very, very on top of making adjustments in this league,” Consuegra said through Benes. “Not that you don’t have to do it in the other league, but this league it’s very, very important.”
Still just 21 years old, Consuegra has plenty of time to make those adjustments.
“We’re working on it,” Rivera said. “… Just gotta be patient, no rush, keep working hard on a daily basis.”
The Cyclones return on Tuesday, August 2 to take on the Winston-Salem Dash. For ticket and promotion information, click here.