BOSTON — Romy Gonzalez’s 454-foot missile to left-center field in the eighth inning Monday marked the longest home run by a Red Sox hitter this season.
Gonzalez went 2-for-5 with a triple, home run, two runs and one RBI to help Boston to a 9-3 win over Colorado at Fenway Park.
“I was on deck and that was pretty sick,” rookie Roman Anthony said.
Anthony knows a thing or two about crushing tape measure home runs. He demolished a 497-foot home run for Triple-A Worcester on June 7.
“It’s kind of bad that I almost like expect that from him when a left-handed pitcher’s up because he’s been so amazing this year,” Anthony said.
Gonzalez connected on an 80.3 mph curveball from Rockies lefty reliever Ryan Rolison. It left his bat with a 111.1 mph exit velocity.
The 28-year-old right-handed hitter is 26-for-65 (.400) with a .452 on-base percentage, .754 slugging percentage, 1.206 OPS, four home runs, seven doubles, two triples, 16 RBIs, seven walks and 17 strikeouts vs. left-handed pitchers this year.
“He’s great to hit behind,” Anthony said. “When you have him in front of you, you probably have a runner on base a lot of the time. He’s awesome. He’s just an awesome player, awesome person. So it’s fun to watch.”
How locked in does Gonzalez feel vs. southpaws?
“Tremendously locked in,” Gonzalez said. “Me and Rob (Refsnyder are) constantly grinding, working together.”
His 454-foot blast was tied for the longest home run hit at Fenway Park this season. Angels slugger Mike Trout also homered 454 feet at Fenway on June 2 against Richard Fitts.
“Definitely great company,” Gonzalez said. “I remember the ball Mike hit. It was incredible. So just for it to be even close, crazy.”
Gonzalez said he thinks he hit a couple homers in the minor leagues that traveled further but this was the longest of his big league career.
The lefty masher has hit every type of pitch well this season. He’s batting .343 against fastballs, .318 against offspeed pitches and .297 against breaking balls.
He has a superb 59.6% hard-hit percentage, 15.2% barrel percentage, 94.7 mph average exit velocity and .543 expected slugging percentage. He also has had above average bat speed (75.4).
Boston claimed Gonzalez off waivers from the White Sox on Jan. 31, 2024. He had slashed just .222/.239/.361/.600 in 86 games for Chicago, the team that drafted him, from 2021-23.
“Before I got over here, obviously my career was not great,” Gonzalez said. “I wasn’t proud of it by any means. And ever since I got over here, just working with the hitting guys and Rob, it’s been tremendous for my career and it’s been awesome.”
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