Touch ‘em All Time: The Yanimal Awakens

My other non-baseball related job did not want me looking at sweet, sweet dingers for the past two weeks, so our weekly segment of home runs was put on momentary pause. I don’t think that’s right; I mean, look at all of the glorious long balls that we missed. There were the back to back jacks by Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor in the ninth inning in a game against the Royals. Yan Gomes’ second donger of the season came against his former team in Toronto. Jason Kipnis teed off...twice in the same game against Minnesota, while Lonnie Chisenhall and Francisco Lindor came through the next day on Mother’s Day, the latter of which proved to be the game winning home run.

Point being, there have been a good number of notable home runs since we last met. So without further ado, here are the home runs from this previous week!

Bradley Zimmer (5/17/17 v. Alex Colomé , WPA .011 )

Oh yeah, Bradley Zimmer is on the team now. And he is quite a large and powerful man. On the day that he notched his first major league hit (a double), he also had his first major league home run (a bomb to the bullpen in right field). Welcome to the Show, Bradley!

Edwin Encarnacion (5/19/17 v. Charlie Morton, WPA .194)

Edwin’s name appears on this week’s list three separate times, which should indicate to folks that his power is really starting to shine. His first homer of the week came against the Astros, and it was an absolute rocket over the wall in left field.

Jason Kipnis (5/19/17 v. Charlie Morton, WPA .145)

LINK TO THE DINGER

The week prior, Kip had been robbed of a home run by Kevin Kiermaier on a hit similar to this one. However, in this at bat, Kip was able to muscle the ball a bit further into the right field bleachers and break a 2-2 tie to give the Tribe the lead.

Lonnie Chisenhall (5/19/17 v. Charlie Morton, WPA .129)

Lonald “Lonnie” Chisenhall was kind of a nightmare for Houston last week, hitting two hone runs in the series. The first one came against Charlie Morton, and it was an absolute moonshot.

Lonnie Chisenhall (5/20/17 v. Mike Fiers, WPA .119)

The Chisenhall show continued the next evening when the inventor of the Chisentray golfed a ball out into the stands in right center field. But this begs the question: if Lonnie hits a game winning home run, is there still a Chisentray involved? Only those of a higher plane of existence know for sure.

Yan Gomes (5/21/17 v. Joe Musgrove, WPA .241)

It’s such a treat to have Yan Gomes back from his extended stay in a gaping black hole. His powerful 457 foot blast hit the train tracks at Minute Maid Park and marked the longest home run of Gomes’ career during the Statcast era.

Jason Kipnis (5/22/17 v. Scott Feldman, WPA .119)

STOP TRYING TO ROB JASON KIPNIS’ HOME RUNS OKAY THANKS BYE.

Francisco Lindor (5/23/17 v. Amir Garrett, WPA .098)

Hahahahaha, you thought Francisco Lindor would not appear on this list? Surely you jest. Lindor got the party started last night with a home run in the first to put the Tribe on top early. They would need seven more runs to seal the victory; luckily there were three more home runs in the game.

Edwin Encarnacion (5/23/17 v. Amir Garrett, WPA .192)

You know, I’m starting to think that this Edwin guy is pretty strong. Watch and behold as he blasts a home run to the second deck at Great American Ball Park to give the Tribe a 5-3 lead in the third inning.

Yan Gomes (5/23/17 v. Amir Garrett, WPA .090)

Two batters later, Yan Gomes launched a home run to dead center to extend the lead to 6-3. As mentioned above, Yan Gomes being a not black hole in the lineup is so, so satisfying.

Edwin Encarnacion (5/23/17 v. Amir Garrett, WPA .067)

Edwin wasn’t done after just one home run. No, the madman murderized another baseball in the fifth inning. And while this one didn’t quite make it to the second deck this time, it did extend the Tribe lead to 6-3. Seeing the Edwing take flight twice in one game is something I hope we all get used to for the rest of the season.

Verdict

There were some great home runs this week. Edwin’s blast to the second deck against the Reds was impressive, but it wasn’t even the most impressive home run of the week. That honor goes to Yan Gomes and his mammoth blast in Houston that almost left the stadium. When you hit a ball 450+ feet at 110+ mph, you can’t help but step back and marvel at its beauty. Hopefully Yan Gomes really has turned a corner; but if not, he at least had this incredible week at the plate. Congratulations Yan!