Last Updated on October 21, 2023 by Matt Musico
You don’t have to search far on this website to find out that we love home runs. They’re awesome at all times of the year. But postseason home runs? Those are a whole different kind of vibe. If the visiting team launches one, it can silence 30,000-40,000 people in a single moment. But if that tater is slugged by the home team, stadiums feel like they start to shake.
The only thing better than postseason home runs are ones that appear to be traveling to another county. Since Statcast was implemented in 2015, here are the 15 longest postseason home runs during that time.
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Longest Postseason Home Runs
Eric Hosmer, Kansas City Royals: 453 feet
When: 2015 ALDS Game 4
When I think of the longest postseason homers of the Statcast era, Eric Hosmer definitely isn’t one of my first thoughts. That’s the beauty of baseball, though, folks.
En route to the Royals winning the 2015 World Series title, KC’s first baseman launched this moonshot in the ALDS against the Houston Astros. Hosmer has slugged three postseason home runs in his career (three with KC, one with San Diego). What we see here was the only one he hit during the 2015 playoffs.
He made some memorable plays during the Royals’ title run, but his offense mostly disappeared. After posting a 124 wRC+ with 18 homers in the regular season, Hosmer slashed .212/.236/.288 in 72 plate appearances, which susses out to a 32 wRC+.
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Chad Pinder, Oakland Athletics: 453 feet
When: 2020 ALDS Game 2
Chad Pinder is another guy I wouldn’t expect to be on here, but I love it. He’s never hit more than 15 homers in a single season, which happened in 2017. Pinder has registered four years of double-digit homers, though.
But in the pandemic shortened season of 2020, he saved his best work for the postseason. Pinder slashed .232/.295/.393 with two homers and eight RBI in 64 regular-season plate appearances. In 26 trips to the plate in the playoffs, those numbers were .318/.385/.636, 2, and 7, respectively.
Luke Voit, New York Yankees: 453 feet
When: 2020 ALDS Game 4
The 2020 season was weird for everyone, but it was a banner year for Luke Voit. With 22 homers prior to the playoffs, he was the MLB home run leader. This helped him post a .610 slugging percentage across 234 plate appearances. How good of a performance was this? Well, he outperformed his home run number from 2019 (21) in 276 fewer plate appearances.
The above homer was the only one he slugged in seven postseason games during 2020, and it was his first career postseason home run. Might as well make it count, right?
Mike Zunino, Tampa Bay Rays: 454 feet
When: 2020 ALCS Game 2
The 2020 postseason was Mike Zunino‘s first taste of October baseball. It was quite a weird taste for him, too. The backstop obviously slugged one of the longest postseason home runs of the Statcast era, and he didn’t stop there.
Zunino hit four homers with eight RBI in 17 postseason games, but that’s about all he did. It included a 56 wRC+ thanks to a .170/.196/.396 line, a 1.8% walk rate, and a 48.2% strikeout rate. Phew.
Joc Pederson, Atlanta Braves: 454 feet
When: 2021 NLCS Game 2
Joc Pederson in the playoffs is real and it’s beautiful (most of the time). For his career, the two-time World Series champ is hitting .256/.332/.482 with a 115 wRC+ in October. This includes 12 total homers. In the seven different postseason appearances he’s made, Pederson has hit at least two dingers four times.
During the 2021 postseason, Pederson posted a 75 wRC+ but collected nine RBI in 15 games. So, when he registered hits, they came in key spots.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves: 455 feet
When: 2019 NLDS Game 1
The Braves didn’t advance past the NLDS in 2019, but it had nothing to do with a then-21-year old Ronald Acuña Jr. and his performance. In his first full season as a big leaguer, he nearly joined the 40-40 club with 41 homers and 37 stolen bases.
That helped power a 125 wRC+ and 5.5 fWAR before his second trip to the postseason. His first trip included a 74 wRC+ in four games played. This time around, it included a 260 wRC+ in five games.
The above homer was the only one he hit. However, Acuña also slashed .444/.565/.889 in 23 plate appearances.
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Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees: 458 feet
When: 2020 ALDS Game 2
Giancarlo Stanton likes hitting postseason home runs, and he’s done it in bunches. We also know he rarely gets cheated when it comes to distance. This is just another example of that. Prior to 2022, Stanton’s 2020 postseason performance is his best.
He was limited to just 94 plate appearances in the regular season, which led to four homers and 11 RBI. Stanton out-performed both those numbers in 31 postseason plate appearances (six homers, 13 RBI) while posting a 255 wRC+.
Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs: 459 feet
When: 2015 NLCS Game 1
Kyle Schwarber postseason bombs are something we’re already used to thanks to his time with the Cubs. Chicago got swept in the NLCS, but the left-handed slugger made a huge impact during that postseason. He slugged five homers and posted a 248 wRC+ off the strength of a .333/.419/.889 triple slash.
Schwarber spread his homer production across all postseason rounds in 2015, too. He hit one in the NL Wild Card Game, two in the NLDS, and then two in the NLCS. His OPS progressively decreased along the way (2.333, 1.683, .821), but the damage was done.
Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves: 460 feet
When: 2019 NLDS Game 1
Remember how I said Acuña wasn’t a reason behind the Braves not advancing past the NLDS in 2019? Well, Freddie Freeman wasn’t the sole reason, but it would’ve been helpful if he racked up a few more knocks.
He entered this postseason fresh off setting single-season career-high marks in homers (38) and RBI (121). With this moonshot in Game 1, it was easy to assume it’d be more of the same in this series against the St. Louis Cardinals. It wasn’t meant to be, though. This homer was the only one he’d record in this matchup. Freeman finished the postseason with a .200/.273/.400 line in 22 plate appearances.
Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves: 460 feet
When: 2021 World Series Game 5
Is it shocking that the Braves won the World Series during Freeman’s best postseason performance? No, not at all. The first baseman didn’t post an OPS lower than .996 in any of the three rounds he and Atlanta participated in.
Overall, the left-handed hitter slashed .304/.420/.625 with five homers, 11 RBI, and eight runs scored in 69 trips to the plate. That all led to a 169 wRC+. Two of those homers came in the World Series against the Astros, and he saved the best for last, with one coming in Game 5 and the second coming in Game 6.
Longest Postseason Home Runs: Top 5
Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies: 461 feet
When: 2023 NLCS Game 5
The legend of Kyle Schwarber. #NLCS pic.twitter.com/EbnQ2fhpt7
— MLB (@MLB) October 22, 2023
Not only is this blast from Schwarber one of the longest postseason dingers of the Statcast era, but it also helped him cement his place in history. This was his 11th career homer in the NLCS, which is the most all-time. It was also his fifth of the 2023 NLCS, which ties him with Corey Seager for the most in a single NLCS.
Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees: 479 feet
When: 2018 ALDS Game 2
This was an absolute tank from Gary Sanchez, but the postseason has been very hit-or-miss for him during his big-league career. He’s slugged seven dingers with 19 RBI through 121 plate appearances, but it’s accompanied by a 53 wRC+ and a .171/.215/.387 triple slash.
Those power numbers are nice, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of production he’s had otherwise. Sanchez has also added a 5.0% walk rate and 36.4% strikeout rate during this time. Those numbers are substantially worse than his career numbers through the 2022 season (9.8% walk rate, 26.9% strikeout rate).
Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox: 487 feet
When: 2020 ALWC Game 3
Luis Robert hasn’t spent a ton of time in the postseason just yet. Judging from the small sample size we have, though, we can hope he’s there more frequently in the future for the White Sox (or wherever else he is). He participated in the 2020 playoffs as a rookie, and this moonshot was his first career October homer. That’s one way to announce your arrival, right?
The outfielder also appeared in the the 2021 postseason before Chicago was bounced from the ALDS by the Astros. While the homer you see above is his only one at the time of this original writing (10/2022), Robert’s first 31 postseason plate appearances couldn’t be much better. He owns a 167 wRC+ with a .393/.452/.500 triple slash.
Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies: 488 feet
When: 2022 NLCS Game 1
OK, so which is better: Schwarber’s absolute missile or Bryce Harper‘s reaction in the immediate aftermath of it? It’s honestly pretty close. And not only is this the second-longest postseason homer of the Statcast era, but it’s also the hardest hit. This ball left Petco Park at an astonishing 119.7 mph.
Will Schwarber ever square a ball up this well again? I’ll have to say no, but then again, the left-handed slugger is fully capable of doing so. He just keeps hitting homers in big spots, though.
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Willson Contreras, Chicago Cubs: 491 feet
When: 2017 NLCS Game 4
Willson Contreras‘ postseason career currently spans 94 plate appearances. His wRC+ is just above the league average at 103 off the strength of a .231/.362/.385 line. He’s appeared in October two more times since his 2017 experience, but this is still the last playoff dinger the catcher has collected.
His overall performance in the Championship Series is quite interesting, too. While Contreras’ .688 OPS during this postseason round is his second-worst mark, two of his three career postseason home runs have come during that time.
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