Pittsburgh Pirates minor-league prospect Tony Blanco Jr. hit his first home run with Single-A Bradenton on Wednesday night.
The first baseman/designated hitter’s two-run blast was clutch, giving the Marauders a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, but it was the eye-popping exit velocity off the bat that caught viewer’s attention.
“118.9 MPH,” the Marauders team account posted on X, followed by an exploding head emoji. “Tony Blanco Jr. with an absolute MISSLE for his first Single-A homer!”
The 20-year-old Blanco Jr. is listed at 6-foot-7, 243 pounds on his Baseball Reference page and was born in Boston.
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He’s the son of the late Tony Blanco, who played 56 MLB games with the Washington Nationals in 2005. The elder Blanco died in the Jet Set nightclub tragedy in April in the Dominican Republic.
Per Baseball America’s Mark Chiarelli, Blanco Jr. was “held out of action until a few weeks ago” and debuted at the Low-A level on July 19. Chiarelli also noted that the slugger’s Wednesday night dinger put him in impressive company with two star major-leaguers, including Pittsburgh Pirates advanced stats darling Oneil Cruz.
“On Wednesday, he hit his first home run at the level, launching a 92 mph fastball 415 feet with an exit velocity of 118.9 mph,” Chiarelli wrote. “That eye-popping number puts Blanco in rare company — only two major leaguers, Oneil Cruz and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., have hit a ball harder this season. Blanco’s outlier power is worth a follow, but his high strikeout rate will need to come down for him to find it against the best pitchers in the world one day.”
Blanco Jr. has gone 5-for-18 with one home run and three RBIs across his first five games with Bradenton.
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