When Sean Hjelle folded his massive frame into the San Francisco Giants dugout for his debut in 2022, he wasn't just another rookie pitcher. He was a literal outlier. Standing a towering 6 feet, 11 inches, Hjelle officially became the tallest player in mlb history, tying a record set decades prior by a guy named Jon Rauch.
Most people assume being that tall is a massive cheat code. You're closer to the plate, right? Your release point is basically halfway to the catcher. But honestly, it’s a mechanical nightmare.
The two titans of the 6-foot-11 club
For a long time, Jon Rauch owned this record solo. Rauch was a mountain of a man who pitched from 2002 to 2013, mostly as a reliever. He was an intimidating presence, sure, but he also holds one of the weirdest stats in baseball: he’s the tallest player ever to hit a home run.
Imagine being a pitcher and seeing a nearly seven-foot-tall man walking toward the batter's box. It’s absurd.
Then came Hjelle. Drafted out of Kentucky, he’s basically a walking skyscraper. While Rauch was built like a traditional power pitcher, Hjelle is leaner. In fact, his nickname is "Jelly," which fits because he has to keep all those long limbs synchronized just to throw a strike.
If one part of a 6-foot-11 body is off by a fraction of an inch during a delivery, the ball ends up in the backstop.
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Why don't we see 7-footers?
You’d think teams would be scouring basketball courts for the next Randy Johnson. But there's a reason the height ceiling usually stops at 6-foot-10 or 6-foot-11.
- Levers and Timing: The longer your arms, the more room there is for your "timing" to break.
- The Strike Zone: If you’re a hitter like Aaron Judge (6'7"), your strike zone is massive. Pitchers can feast on the low stuff that a shorter guy would just lay off.
- Durability: Carrying that much weight on your knees and back while performing an explosive motion like pitching is a recipe for a short career.
The Big Unit and the 6-foot-10 crew
We can't talk about height without mentioning Randy Johnson. While he wasn't the tallest—he was 6-foot-10—he is easily the most successful giant to ever play. "The Big Unit" used every bit of his height to create a release point that felt like he was handing the ball to the catcher.
Most of the guys who hover around this height are pitchers.
- Jon Rauch (6'11"): The original record holder.
- Sean Hjelle (6'11"): The current active king of height.
- Randy Johnson (6'10"): The Hall of Fame gold standard.
- Chris Young (6'10"): A flyball pitcher who used his height to create a deceptive "upward" angle.
- Eric Hillman (6'10"): A southpaw who played for the Mets in the 90s.
It’s a short list. Well, a tall list of a few people.
Honestly, the league is getting taller on average, but we haven't seen anyone break the 6-foot-11 barrier yet. There was a guy named Loek van Mil who was 7-foot-1, but he never actually made it out of the minor leagues. He’s technically the tallest professional baseball player, but since he never stepped on an MLB mound in a regular-season game, the Rauch/Hjelle record stands.
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The struggle of the tall hitter
While pitchers love the "downward plane" that height provides, hitters usually hate being tall.
Aaron Judge and Oneil Cruz (both 6'7") are basically the limit for modern superstars. Cruz is especially weird because he’s a shortstop. A 6-foot-7 shortstop shouldn't be able to move that fast, but he does.
The problem for these guys is the "low and away" slider. When you have legs as long as theirs, reaching the bottom of the zone requires a lot of movement, which creates holes in the swing. It’s why Judge had to completely reinvent his stance to protect his knees and cover the plate.
What really happened with the "Giant" prospects?
Over the years, teams have gambled on height and lost. Look at Andrew Brackman. He was a 6-foot-10 monster for the Yankees who had a massive arm, but his body just couldn't stay in sync.
Basically, the taller you are, the higher the "bust" potential.
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If you're 6-foot-4, you’re in the sweet spot. You’re tall enough to have great extension but short enough to keep your mechanics repeatable. When you hit 6-foot-11, you’re basically a science experiment every time you take the mound.
Actionable insights for fans and scouts
If you’re watching a game and see a guy like Sean Hjelle or Bailey Ober (6'9") pitching, don't just look at the radar gun.
- Watch the Release Point: Tall pitchers often "hide" the ball behind their bodies longer.
- Check the Extension: A 6-foot-11 pitcher might throw 93 mph, but because he’s so close to the plate at release, it looks like 97 mph to the hitter.
- Look at the Knees: If a tall pitcher starts "collapsing" their back leg, they usually lose their command immediately.
The record for the tallest player in mlb history is likely safe at 6-foot-11 for a while. It takes a very specific type of athlete to handle that much height and still have the coordination to hit a target the size of a glove from 60 feet away.
For your next deep dive into baseball stats, try looking up "effective velocity." It’s the best way to understand why a 6-foot-11 pitcher’s fastball is so much harder to hit than a 6-foot pitcher’s heater, even if the speed is exactly the same. You can find these metrics on sites like Baseball Savant or FanGraphs to see how much extra "jump" these giants get on their pitches.