Article: Myles Straw and the *CLUNK* Heard Coast to Coast

[Mike LeSage]

Monday night in Toronto, Myles Straw hit a homer that had to be seen and heard to be believed.

Before we get to the “clunk” let’s flash back to Toronto’s offseason. General manager Ross Atkins had previously identified power as “lowhanging fruit” in the free agent market, and after finishing 26th in the league in home runs, the Blue Jays were hungry. Naturally, when scouring the league for power potential, the Jays turned their eyes toward the team with the lowest exit velocity and hard-hit rate in the league: the Cleveland Guardians. After a season in which an eight-headed monster comprised of — deep breath — Davis Schneider, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Spencer Horwitz, Cavan Biggio, Leo Jiménez, Will Wagner, Ernie Clement, and Orelvis Martínez shared second base, the Jays saw a chance to grab a player that would nail down the position and bring the power the team had been lacking. Enter Andrés Giménez. All he’s done so far this season is start at second base over 94% of the time and lead the team in homers. Just like we all knew he would.

Not satisfied with adding a power-first infielder to the roster, Toronto wanted to make some additions to the outfield. Maybe the previous call hadn’t disconnected. Maybe Ross Atkins instinctively dials the 216 area code because of all the time he spent in Cleveland. Either way, the Jays had Kevin Kiermaier’s four 2024 home runs to replace, and Cleveland had just the man for the job. Myles Straw, pack up your big bat, you’re headed North! Sure, some might have looked at the timing of the trade and come to the conclusion that he was just the straw that stirred the drink in a Rokie Sasaki bonus pool cocktail. Of course, Sasaki went to the Dodgers as expected, so that couldn’t have ever been part of the plan. No, the headline of the deal was surely Straw’s bat anchoring the outfield, even if it was just meant as Daulton Varsho insurance.

Look, I’ll level with you, I didn’t believe in Straw’s power either. I left him off of both of Toronto’s pre-season roster projections. I looked at his ISO+ and I believed what I saw. I saw a player with a career ISO+ of 40. Forty. FORTY. As in, 60% below the league average. That's tied for the lowest in the majors over the last decade. In the history of the AL and NL dating back to 1871, Straw's ISO+ is the tied for the 57th-lowest. Ever. There are 3,871 harder-hitting players ranked above him. That’s enough to fill the active roster of 148 separate teams, almost five leagues worth of players! 

Of course, that’s one of the great things about the game of baseball. When you buy a ticket to a game or put it on the TV, there’s always a chance you’re going to see something special. Something historic. Here’s where we get to Myles Straw’s home run - do yourself a favour and turn the volume all the way up to 11 for this one:

So often it’s the crack of the bat on the ball we love to hear, and that’s an undeniably beautiful sound. But this? A ball with a 100.3 mph exit velocity slamming into the front row railing 397 feet away (the third-farthest Straw has ever hit a ball) and the resonating clunk it produces? Almost magical. A clunk with enough reverberation to propel that ball another 8-9 rows into the stands. Straw really has given us more than we expected and I hope the fan who walked away with that souvenir appreciates the gift they were given. 

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