Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon didn’t hit any of the week’s longest home runs in MLB, but he did throw one. Matt Chapman hit a Gordon pitch 447 feet Monday night.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon has 185 career home runs, so it’s no surprise that his name is on the list of the week’s 25 longest bombs in MLB.
Unfortunately for Gordon, he made the list as a pitcher, not as a hitter.
Monday night, in the seventh inning of Kansas City’s 19-4 pounding at the hands of the Oakland Athletics, Gordon was summoned from the safety of left field in order to ease the load on a Royals staff that had already surrendered 15 runs and 15 hits. On the way to recording four outs, Gordon allowed three more runs including a 447-blast off the bat of Matt Chapman.
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Chapman’s was the tenth longest home run struck during the week, and Gordon became the first position player this season to throw one of the week’s longest bombs.
Boston’s Jackie Bradley Jr. hit the week’s longest home run. It came Tuesday night in Colorado and traveled 478 feet at an exit velocity of 112.1 mph.
The Rockies dominated this week’s list, and mostly for the wrong reasons. Five Rockies pitchers threw homers that counted among the 25 longest, with Rico Garcia accounting for two of them. Garcia threw Bradley’s blast and also threw a 435-footer to Xander Bogaerts that same night.
One night later Wes Parsons delivered a 437-footer to Rafael Devers. On Thursday night, Pittsburgh’s Jose Osuna took Rockies pitcher Yency Almonte for 440 feet worth of home run, then on Saturday Parsons threw a pitch that Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell sent on a 452-foot ride.
Rockies batters tried to balance the scales. On Monday, Sam Hilliard hit the week’s fourth longest, a 455-footer, off Boston’s Josh Smith. On Friday, Ian Desmond produced a 454-footer against Pittsburgh’s Francisco Liriano. That same night, Trevor Story hit a 447-foot bomb off Pittsburgh’s Dario Agazal.
That means nearly one-third of the week’s 25 longest home runs in MLB involved the Rockies, either on the pitching or hitting side.
Beyond Garcia and Parsons, Detroit’s Nick Ramirez also threw more than one home run on the list. Against Cleveland on Tuesday, he threw a 436-foot bomb to Franmil Reyes and a 435-footer to Roberto Perez.
Arizona’s Christian Walker was the only player to hit two. He produced a 438-footer off Milwaukee’s Zach Davies on Sunday, and the following Saturday hit a 442-footer off Clayton Kershaw.
The average distance of the weeks 25 longest home run in MLB was 445.6 feet. Here’s the full list.
      Batter, team          Pitcher, team        Distance
1             Jackie Bradley Jr., Bos   Rico Garcia, Col        478
2             George Springer, Hou   Trent Thornton, Tor       463
3             Aaron Judge, NYY           Yusel Kikuchi, Sea     462
4             Sam Hilliard, Col       Josh Smith, Bos       455
5             Ian Desmond, Col           Francisco Liriano, Pit  454
6             Josh Bell, Pit           Wes Parsons, Col     452
7             Nelson Cruz, Min            Buck Farmer, Det     450
8             Derek Fisher, Tor            Chris Devenski, Hou   447
9             Trevor Story, Col            Dario Agazal, Pit      447
10          Matt Chapman, Oak      Alex Gordon, KC       447
11          Avisail Garcia, TB      Tyler Clippard, Cle     446
12          Jonathan Villar, Bal     Jalen Beeks, TB       443
13          Mitch Garver, Min          Jace Fry, CWS         443
14          Mike Trout, LAA       Rafael Montero, Tex     442
15          Christian Walker, Ari   Clayton Kershaw, LA  442
16          Jose Osuna, Pit        Yency Almonte. Col    440
17          Christian Walker, Ari   Zach Davies, Mil      438
18          Gleyber Torres, NYY      Tommy Milone, Sea   438
19          Jorge Soler, KC                 Nick Wittgren, Cle    437
20          Rafael Devers, Bos     Wes Parsons, Col     437
21          Gary Sanchez, NYY     Homer Bailey, Oak    436
22          Franmil Reyes, Cle     Nick Ramirez, Det    436
23          Philip Ervin, Cin        Kyle Keller, Min       436
24          Roberto Perez, Cle     Nick Ramirez, Det     435
25          Xander Bogaerts, Bos  Rico Garcia, Col       435