Toronto’s Rogers Centre has a well-deserved reputation as a hitter-friendly park, and with sluggers such as José Bautista, Edwin Encarnación and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. suiting up for the Blue Jays in recent years, this stadium is no stranger to the long ball. Baseballs fly whether the retractable roof is open or shut, but who is the long ball king in T.O.? Hint: It’s not who you think.
In this list, we’re counting down the 10 longest home runs at Rogers Centre as of June 24, 2023. It’s important to note that these home runs are only from 2015 onward, when MLB’s Statcast began to officially track the distance of each MLB home run. This list features lots of names you’d expect to see, some names that are a surprise and one name that appears twice. (All videos appear courtesy of MLB.)
Here’s a look at the 10 longest home runs at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
10. Teoscar Hernández — 461 feet
Outfielder Teoscar Hernández spent six seasons with the Blue Jays, hitting a very respectable 129 home runs in that span. The longest that he hit at Rogers Centre came on June 15, 2022, against Baltimore. Hernández connected with a slider from Bruce Zimmermann with an exit velocity of 114.1 mph, sending the ball 461 feet into the party deck in deep left-center field. The blast was Hernández’s fourth of a season in which he hit 25.
8 (t). Aaron Judge — 462 feet
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has tape measure blasts at several parks around the big leagues, including Yankee Stadium. His longest home run north of the border was his 10th of 2023, coming on May 15. Judge smacked a full-count slider from Jay Jackson 462 feet to the party deck in center field. The baseball left Judge’s bat at 114.9 mph.
8 (t). Edwin Encarnación — 462 feet
Edwin Encarnación clubbed 239 of his 424 career home runs with the Blue Jays, but none officially went farther at Rogers Centre than the one he hit on August 5, 2015. Facing Minnesota’s J.R. Graham in the bottom of the fourth inning, Encarnación hit a three-run shot to center field with an exit velocity of 111.1 mph. It was his 20th home run of a 39-home run campaign. (No video available.)
7. Randal Grichuk — 464 feet
Toronto’s Randal Grichuk made the most of a 3-0 green light opportunity on September 21, 2018 against Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays outfielder smashed a Jalen Beeks fastball 464 feet for his 24th home run of the season. The home run had an exit velocity of 111.9 mph and ended up in the WestJet Flight Deck section high above center field. (Grichuk also holds the record for the longest home run at Minute Maid Park in the Statcast era.)
6. Kendrys Morales — 465 feet
The only player with two entries on this list, Kendrys Morales pummelled a Jake Odorizzi splitter 465 feet to right field on June 14, 2017. The three-run shot had an exit velocity of 109.1 mph and landed in the middle of the Rogers Centre second deck. Just four days later, Morales hit a slightly shorter home run that ranked eighth on this list.
5. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — 467 feet
Blue Jays fans hope that young slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will have several entries on this list over the course of his career. For now, the second-generation star’s longest home run at home was his first of the 2022 season. It came on April 10 against Texas’s Spencer Howard. Guerrero crushed a high cutter with a whopping exit velocity of 117.9 mph, sending the ball into the party deck above the seats in center field.
4. Josh Donaldson — 469 feet
Josh Donaldson made it rain 37 times during the 2016 season, but his 22nd home run of the year on July 5 stands out. His 469-foot shot to deep left-center field against a Chris Young four-seam fastball had an exit velocity of 110.4 mph and is the longest home run he hit during his time as a Blue Jay.
2 (t). George Springer — 474 feet
On August 30, 2019, two years before he became a Blue Jay, Houston outfielder George Springer muscled a Trent Thornton slider 474 feet to left-center field for his 29th home run of a 39-home run campaign. The long ball had an exit velocity of 112.6 mph, and deflected off the windows of Rogers Centre’s 300 Level.
2 (t). Justin Smoak — 474 feet
Facing Robbie Ross and dressed in a special white and red uniform in honor of Canada Day, Justin Smoak’s July 1, 2015 home run is the longest Blue Jays home run at Rogers Centre in the Statcast era. Even though it had an exit velocity of *only* 108.3 mph — the lowest on this list — the 474-foot home run bounced off the facing of the fifth deck and caused a frenzied reaction in the home dugout. The switch-hitting Smoak hit this home run from the right side of the plate in the third inning after hitting a first-inning dinger from the left side.
1. Avisaíl García — 481 feet
Since 2015, no player has hit a home run farther at Rogers Centre than White Sox outfielder Avisaíl García. His monstrous 481-foot bomb to center field came on April 3, just a few days into the 2018 season. The home run, hit off lefty J.A. Happy, smacked the facing of the third deck and had an exit velocity of 116.7 mph.
The 10 Longest Home Runs at Rogers Centre are:
1. Avisaíl García — 481 feet
2 (t). Justin Smoak — 474 feet
2 (t). George Springer — 474 feet
4. Josh Donaldson — 469 feet
5. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — 467 feet
6. Kendrys Morales — 465 feet
7. Randal Grichuk — 464 feet
8 (t). Edwin Encarnación — 462 feet
8 (t). Aaron Judge — 462 feet
10. Teoscar Hernández — 461 feet