This post is part of our broader end-of-season content/awards lineup that’s being published on the site today; click here for more information on that list, and to see the other awards and posts within. In this post are our five player picks for the best home run swings that we captured on video in 2017: Oakland Athletics slugger Sandber Pimentel, San Francisco Giants prospect Dillon Dobson, Kansas City Royals first baseman Robby Rinn, Colorado Rockies outfielder Daniel Jipping, Ventura College power hitter Bryson Wallet, and Baltimore Orioles rookie ball outfielder Jacob Brown.
If you like high-definition videos of beautiful home run swings, you’re going to love what we’ve got here.
Sandber Pimentel, 1B, Oakland Athletics
Date/Location: August 16, 2017 for the High-A Stockton Ports on the road at LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga, California against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Notes: A long shot to deep right field at LoanMart, this ball went over the scoreboard and well on the way towards Rochester Avenue. Twenty-three year old Sandber Pimentel slashed .279/.374/.484/.857 this year with 14 home runs in 2017; in his career, spanning 1,479 professional at-bats, the first baseman has already slugged 61 doubles and 54 home runs, and holds a .421 slugging percentage. He’s susceptible to being busted hard in and getting tied up there by good fastballs, but when he unloads on a ball like this, he really, really unloads—practically jumping out to meet the ball. That raw power will long entice organizations to give Sandber Pimentel opportunities to see whether he can figure it out in the upper minors and at the ultimate level.
Dillon Dobson, IF, San Francisco Giants
Date/Location: April 12, 2017 and May 24, 2017, both for the High-A San Jose Giants on the road at The Hangar in Lancaster, California against the Lancaster JetHawks.
Notes: Yes, these are two distinct home run swings, though it certainly looks like they might as well be one; Dillon Dobson put together decent power numbers in 2017, and ended up with 21 doubles and 15 home runs while performing in a utility role for San Jose. He’s got some sneaky pop, and that could propel him to a big league bench role considering his defensive flexibility. We wrote a little bit about that earlier this year in an interview piece; you can read more about Dobson’s unique job here.
Robby Rinn, 1B, Kansas City Royals
Date/Location: August 1, 2017 at the Northwest League/Pioneer League Home Run Derby during their midseason All-Star festivities at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Notes: Even though Robby Rinn didn’t win the home run derby here, he took quite a few very good swings and pushed the championship round into a tiebreaker thanks to his impressive raw power and consistent stroke. In fact, we asked him about the derby in an interview minutes after he walked off the field at the end of this video; click here to read that piece.
Daniel Jipping, OF, Colorado Rockies
Date/Location: August 1, 2017 at the Northwest League/Pioneer League Home Run Derby during their midseason All-Star festivities at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Notes: Robby Rinn came in second at that home run derby to this man, the Rockies’ Daniel Jipping, who ran away with the title in the tiebreaker round as Rinn ran out of gas. A rookie ball outfielder drafted out of Central Michigan University who hit 11 homers and slugged .446 in just 193 at-bats with short-season Boise in 2017, Jipping has great bat speed and does a lot of damage on balls left up. If he proves he can cut down on some swing-and-miss issues and keep his on-base percentage up, Jipping could become a decent fringe prospect with power that’ll play at higher levels.
Bryson Wallet, OF, Ventura College
Date/Location: April 11, 2017 at home in Ventura against Pasadena City College and starting pitcher Jesse Hanckel.
Notes: Hanckel threw a pretty good game on this day, but Bryson Wallet got a pitch up and hit it a long, long way. Ventura College’s field dimensions are massive, and to hit a home run out in that park—to any field—is a feat. This one was a no-doubter off the bat. With raw power like this, decent speed, above-average athleticism, a tall projectable frame, and a very strong arm in the outfield, Bryson Wallet may be an MLB Draft candidate to keep tracking next spring.
Jacob Brown, OF, Baltimore Orioles
Date/Location: July 26, 2017, for the rookie level GCL Orioles on the road in Fort Myers, Florida against the GCL Twins.
Notes: Home run is hit at 2:53 in the video. A rookie ball outfielder who is still just a teenager, Jacob Brown really surprised me with this no-doubt home run on a big field in very humid, muggy conditions that day in July. He’s got some good natural bat speed, as you can see, and when he turns on stuff on the inner half, Brown can produce a little more raw power than I think I’d been ready for considering his size and age. That should bode well for his long-term future as he develops and grows into professional baseball.
Congratulations to these guys, who produced some seriously memorable home run swings in 2017. And if you enjoyed watching these videos, and if you’re looking for a few dozen more home run swings and hitter clips, please click here and subscribe to the Baseball Census YouTube channel for hundreds more just like those.
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September 18, 2017 at 1:10 pm
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