Pirates' Oneil Cruz leaves Paul Skenes in awe with mind-blowing home run

Billy Heyen

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Pirates' Oneil Cruz leaves Paul Skenes in awe with mind-blowing home run image

Paul Skenes is normally nothing like us mere mortals.

But on Wednesday night, he was exactly like us. He, just like the rest of us, couldn't believe what Oneil Cruz had just done.

The rising superstar for the Pirates dug into the box from the left side and unloaded on a baseball to deep centerfield against the Angels.

There was no question the ball was leaving the yard. But how far it went?

Goodness, it landed further up that hill than maybe ever before in Anaheim.

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The official distance on Cruz's blast: 463 feet. It left his bat at more than 116 miles per hour.

This is what Cruz does. He's basically made for the Statcast era of the game, where he just hits the ball insanely hard over and over again.

Cruz is also one of baseball's fastest players and has stolen 30 consecutive bases without being caught.

It must be fun to be a Pirates starting pitcher on a day you're not on the mound. You just hang out in the dugout and wait for Cruz to do something incredible.

That's what Skenes was doing on Wednesday, and for once, we could all relate.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle