After Coby Mayo's graduation, Samuel Basallo (No. 11) is the only #Orioles prospect in @mlbpipeline.com's top 100.

By my count, this the first time since 2017 the O's have had just one top-100 prospect.

That prospect was catcher Chance Sisco.

Kjerstad, Henderson, Colton Cowser… This #Orioles team is loaded with powerful left-handed hitters.

But even Heston acknowledges it would take a miracle to hit the warehouse.

It’s 318 feet to the wall, then about 108 feet from the foul pole to the warehouse. But the field is 21 feet below Eutaw Street.

@mikepetriello.bsky.social estimates the projected distance at 460-470 feet. That’s far. And there’s another problem with trying to pull a ball that far…

But opposing lift is drag, and the environmental conditions can have a huge effect on how far a baseball travels.

Temp, humidity and wind are critical. Orioles assistant GM Sig Mejdal notes that sometimes a little rain can help a ball travel father.

.@rbcomes.bsky.social, who was at the ’93 derby, had no idea he’d witnesses a singular event. Now a physics professor, he attempted to answer my query.

He points out the reason the ideal launch angle for a homer is 25-30 degrees, and not 45, is because the backspin on a ball creates lift.

In 1993, Ken Griffey Jr. hit a Home Run Derby ball off the warehouse at Camden Yards, becoming the first and only player to do so.

Why has no one done it since? I spoke with 3 physicists, @mikepetriello.bsky.social, Sig Mejdal and #Orioles OF Heston Kjerstad to try to get an answer 🧵

Owings Mills*