Yu Chang hits hardest homer of his career with new dad power
The shortstop also made a sliding grab to save a run in the fifth inning.
In his first game back from the Paternity List, Red Sox shortstop Yu Chang smashed a 109.7 mph home run over the Green Monster.
The 27-year-old missed Boston’s game on Wednesday due to the birth of his daughter, and he returned with some serious pop in the team’s 11-5 win over the Twins Thursday.
Not only did he hit the hardest home run of his career, he also had two other batted balls over 90 mph. Both wounded up as outs, but the exit velocities were 92.9 and 103.7.
Prior to Thursday, just three of Chang’s batted balls this season were over 100 mph.
In the game, Chang did more than just provide power from the nine spot in the lineup, he also flexed some impressive skill with the leather.
Starting at shortstop on Thursday, a spot where the Red Sox have desperately needed a strong defender, Chang saved a run from scoring with a sliding grab and throw to end the fifth inning.
So far this season, Chang has been the only plus defender to play at short for the Red Sox. Starting shortstop Kiké Hernández has struggled mightily on defense with -5 outs above average in his 14 games at short.
The Red Sox acquired Chang this past offseason as a free agent. Since then, he’s wowed fans with his 1.438 OPS in the World Baseball Classic but is still trying to get that bat going in the majors.
Before his daughter’s birth, he had just two hits in 28 plate appearances to start the year.
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