MESA, Ariz. -- All that anyone could talk about during batting practice for the 2025 Arizona Fall League Home Run Derby was Tony Blanco Jr. From “that’s the biggest guy I’ve ever seen” to “he’s a beast,” the 6-foot-7, 243-pound Pirates prospect drew a fawning crowd of his peers. Once he unleashed his right-handed swing and began to connect, it delivered a sound very few can produce.

Then the event itself started. One of his homers was recorded at 122.9 mph, harder than any hit during MLB Home Run Derbys of the Statcast era (2015). Another at 119.7 mph landed onto a nearby roof, sending the entire ballpark into a frenzy, including many of Blanco’s fellow Fall League participants standing at field level. Everyone who saw the ball and where it landed agreed on one thing: It’s the furthest

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