Today were going to take a look at the longest home runs hit this season by players with the Dayton Dragons. Yesterday we looked at the guys playing in the rookie leagues and their home run information. That covered four different teams as I chose to just bunch them all together, then do the full-season teams on their own.
The Dayton Dragons were middle of the road in the Midwest League this year when it comes to total home runs. They finished 9th out of 16 teams with 77 total home runs. Great Lakes led the league with 113, while Beloit was 16th with 52 home runs. The league average was 81 home runs. With that said, here’s the list of the 20 longest home runs hit by Dayton Dragons hitters this season.
| Date | Hitter | Distance | Team |
| 4/16/19 | Bren Spillane | 434 | Dragons |
| 7/27/19 | Brian Rey | 416 | Dragons |
| 5/28/19 | Juan Martinez | 415 | Dragons |
| 5/6/19 | Mariel Bautista | 413 | Dragons |
| 7/19/19 | Mariel Bautista | 411 | Dragons |
| 4/22/19 | Mariel Bautista | 409 | Dragons |
| 7/1/19 | Juan Martinez | 406 | Dragons |
| 8/9/19 | Matt Lloyd | 405 | Dragons |
| 7/5/19 | Pabel Manzanero | 404 | Dragons |
| 7/27/19 | Miguel Hernandez | 404 | Dragons |
| 8/24/19 | Ernesto Liberatore | 404 | Dragons |
| 5/18/19 | Shard Munroe | 403 | Dragons |
| 7/19/19 | Miguel Hernandez | 403 | Dragons |
| 8/17/19 | Juan Martinez | 402 | Dragons |
| 4/23/19 | Pabel Manzanero | 401 | Dragons |
| 4/28/19 | Juan Martinez | 401 | Dragons |
| 5/18/19 | Brian Rey | 400 | Dragons |
| 6/28/19 | Pabel Manzanero | 400 | Dragons |
| 4/6/19 | Mariel Bautista | 398 | Dragons |
| 5/8/19 | Bren Spillane | 398 | Dragons |
There’s a lot to take away here. First is that there were only 18 home runs hit that went 400 or more feet this year. That feels light. But that represents 23.4% of the home runs they hit this season, too.
Bren Spillane’s 434-foot home run was far and away the longest hit by a Dragon this year. And it came in the second week of the season. Known for his raw power, it’s not surprising that he’s atop the list.
Unfortunately the cameraman didn’t track this one very well. Or at all, really. But you can see the home run as it’s hit, and you’re going to have to take the word of broadcaster Josh Hess that it hit off of the scoreboard since we can’t see it actually doing so in the video.
First Fun Fact
The most fun thing about this list is that Ernesto Liberatore is on it. He played in all of 12 games this season. Eight of those games came in Dayton. He hit one home run. Liberatore has played in six seasons in the minor leagues and he’s hit five home runs in his career – one in every season except for the 2016 season (19 games played).
Second Fun Fact
Mariel Bautista and Juan Martinez both showed up on the list four times. They both, like Spillane, have plenty of raw power to tap into, but haven’t been able to consistently find it at this point in their careers. They both had eight home runs on the season – tied for 3rd most on the team (Pabel Manzanero had 10, Brian Rey had 9).
You can see the entire series right here to check out how the top home runs went for each level within the Cincinnati Reds farm system.