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Seattle Mariners: 3 moments that sparked Kyle Lewis’ ROY

By Ryota Nishino

SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 14: Kyle Lewis #1 of the Seattle Mariners reacts after robbing Ramon Laureano #22 of the Oakland Athletics of a home run at center field during the first inning in the second game of a doubleheader at T-Mobile Park on September 14, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 14: Kyle Lewis #1 of the Seattle Mariners reacts after robbing Ramon Laureano #22 of the Oakland Athletics of a home run at center field during the first inning in the second game of a doubleheader at T-Mobile Park on September 14, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images) /
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Kyle Lewis of the Seattle Mariners celebrates with Daniel Vogelbach.
HOUSTON, TEXAS – JULY 24: Kyle Lewis of the Seattle Mariners celebrates with Daniel Vogelbach after hitting a home run off of Justin Verlander. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

The young Mariners rookie Kyle Lewis hits a towering home run off of Justin Verlander in his first at-bat of the 2020 season

The Seattle Mariners opened the 2020 season in Houston at Minute Maid Park on July 24th after a prolonged schedule shift due to the pandemic. The team had a tough pitching matchup to start off the season by facing two-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander.

As fans were excited to see what baseball would look like during the abnormal MLB regular season, Lewis took Verlander deep in his first at-bat of 2020. At the top of the second inning, Lewis stepped into the batter’s box to lead off the inning. After taking the first pitch for a ball, Lewis went after a fastball at the top of the zone. Lewis made contact with a 95mph fastball which he absolutely crushed.

The exit velocity on the home run was a whopping 111mph. As you could imagine, the whole league was put on notice that the prospect out of Seattle was no joke. The moonshot was posted on several social media accounts around the league, so it was not only news to the Mariners fanbase. This home run was an important start to Lewis’ ROY campaign, as he entered his name into the mix as early as he could on Opening Day.

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