Ranking each of the 2021 Home Run Derby participants
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Some notable performances in the Derby include Bobby Abreu in 2005, who won the Derby with a then-record 41 homers, including a then-record 24 in the first round. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. broke the first-round record in 2019 with 29 home runs. He broke that record in the following round, hitting 40 home runs in 2 tiebreakers. The previous overall record was set in 2016 by Giancarlo Stanton, who finished with a total of 61 home runs, defeating Todd Frazier in the final round.
Devers had a breakout season in 2019, struggled in the beginning of the shortened 2020 season, and now in 2021, he's back to mashing baseballs. He's already launched 18 bombs and, according to Baseball Savant, has an expected home run total of 20.6, trailing only Ohtani and Royals catcher Salvador Perez. One of the juniors has already opted out of the Home Run Derby, but fans are going to want to see as many of them as possible in the event, and Acuna Jr. would be a must-watch performer. Acuna trails only Fernando Tatis Jr. in the NL in home runs as he sits at 20 and 10 of them have been no-doubters, according to Baseball Savant. One of those traveled 481 feet, the second-longest shot this season.
Juan Soto, Washington Nationals
And in the atmosphere of Coors Field — a park he is very familiar with as an NL West foe — he could do some serious damage to baseballs. There's always got to be one hometown hero for the fans to root for, and this year the obvious Rockie would be McMahon. Coming up through the minors, power was always the calling card for Athletics first baseman Matt Olson, who once mashed 37 homers in just 138 games at Advanced-A in 2014. Now, he'll get to put on his power display under the lights of Coors Field in the derby. He's been a prolific source of power in the majors with at least 20 home runs in all but the COVID-shortened season of 2020.
Padres star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., according to Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and Yankees sluggers Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez have also both opted out, according to CBS Sports. The Cubs' Javier Baez has also confirmed that he will not be participating, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers. Catchers don't often appear in the Home Run Derby, but the Royals standout backstop Salvador Perez will take his hacks in this year's contest. Instead of the tally resetting for each round, it was only reset before the final round. Therefore, the players with the four highest totals after Round 1 advanced to Round 2, and the players with the two highest sum of Round 1 and 2 advanced to the finals.
Home Run Derby picks, bets: Fade Alonso
Fans showed how much they wanted to see Acuña in the All-Star Game, making him the NL’s leading vote-getter. Now a two-time All-Star, Alonso is committed to defending his Home Run Derby crown against a field that should include some of the game’s top sluggers. Entering Monday’s play, Alonso’s total of 23 home runs is tied for second in the National League behind Kyle Schwarber and tied for fifth in the Majors. The 27-year-old’s Derby legend began in 2019 in Cleveland, where he hit 57 home runs over three rounds to win his first title.
Perez has turned into quite a power source in addition to his leadership and defensive skills, a turn for the better that first showed itself late in the '20 season, after missing all of the '19 season. It'll be a blast to see him give it a go in the name of catchers everywhere. That said, no catcher has ever won this, and it's tough to see Perez outlasting some of the other names on this list. • Ramírez has hit a lot more home runs as a left-handed batter in his career (although that's in large part a product of getting more plate appearances against righties). He's a switch-hitter -- and no switch-hitter has ever won the Home Run Derby outright.
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• Schwarber has been among the hottest hitters in baseball since the calendar turned to June. The left-handed slugger has 18 home runs since June 1, three more than any other hitter over that period. A hot summer is becoming a habit for Schwarber -- he hit 16 long balls in the month of June last season. One of the best hitters in baseball perennially, Ramirez has 17 home runs and 68 RBIs for the Guardians in 2022. He hit 36 dingers last season and had a career-high 39 bombs in 2018.
From 2005 to 2013, a gold ball has been used once a player reaches nine outs (in 2014 when the T-Mobile Ball came into play, six; since 2015, during the final minute). If a batter hit a home run using the golden ball, Century 21 Real Estate and Major League Baseball would donate $21,000 (a reference to the "21" in "Century 21") per home run to charity . In both 2005 and 2006, $294,000 was raised for the charities, equaling fourteen golden ball home runs per year.
Who is in the Home Run Derby? Complete list of participants for 2022 MLB All-Star event
Switch-hitter Ruben Sierra shared the Derby crown with Eric Davis back in 1989. Lance Berkman is the only other one to even make the finals, in 2004. • With a win, Seager would become just the third shortstop to win the Home Run Derby. Before that, Cal Ripken Jr. was the first shortstop to win the contest in 1991. • A third title for Alonso would be notable for the Mets, too. It’d be the fourth HR Derby title in Mets history, along with Darryl Strawberry’s as a co-champ in 1986.
Mancini has established himself as a premier power hitter, and at 531 games earlier this year, became the fastest Oriole in franchise history to reach 100 home runs. Fans at Coors Field will get to watch some of the game's best power hitters launch baseballs into the thin air in Denver, Colorado, in the 2021 Home Run Derby. Kyle Schwarber (+330) will be the No. 1 seed as he's launched a National League-leading 28 home runs this season and his general streakiness could make him an absolute force if he can get hot at the right time. Before making any 2022 Home Run Derby picks, be sure to see the predictions from SportsLine's Micah Roberts.
With a third Derby win, Alonso would tie Ken Griffey Jr. for the most in MLB history. Here's the latest on the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Kings, Galaxy, LAFC, USC, UCLA and more LA teams. Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities will take place at Dodger Stadium next week. The full All-Star Game rosters have been revealed, and now the field for Monday’s Home Run Derby has been finalized. “Being in a home run derby, this is what we all do in the backyard growing up,” he said. That is how I have been trying to treat it from the get-go, and it’s great to be out here with all of these great players and to be considered one of them from the Red Sox,” Scott said before the Home Run Derby.
The current overall record is held by Guerrero Jr. at a mark of 91, set in 2019. Only three participants, Yoenis Céspedes, Stanton, and Pete Alonso, have won the Home Run Derby without being selected to the All-Star Game. Alonso broke Guerrero's first-round record in 2021 with 35 homers on his way to his second straight Derby Title . The Derby expanded to a three-round format in 1991, where players had 10 outs to hit as many home runs as they could with the top four advancing to Round 2 and the top two squaring off in the final. Ripken won the Derby in the midst of his AL MVP Award-winning campaign.
The televised event included baseball legends Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays. The show ran for 26 episodes with the winner receiving $2,000. As the event traditionally takes place at sunset where the sun is of no factor to the batter, they can choose to wear their hat casually and backwards. Batters will also be granted one 45-second timeout at any time of their choosing during regulation time each round.
Juan Sotowill make his second consecutive in the Home Run Derby, according to Talkin' Baseball. Soto knocked out Shohei Ohtani during the 2021 first round, but lost to Alonso in the semifinal. Byron Buxtonhas declined to appear in the Home Run Derby, according to 5 Eyewitness News' Darren Wolfson. The field for the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, the one we've all been waiting for since we learned this All-Star Game would be played at Coors Field, is at last set. While not every name we'd love to see in the Derby is here -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. opted out, and to be honest, I think Giancarlo Stanton should be in this every year -- this is still a terrific, must-see field.
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