Jul
06
Robbie Cano, Homerun Derby participant
ByMajor League Baseball just announced six participants for next week’s Homerun Derby, one of whom is Robinson Cano. Can’t say I would have predicted that before the season. Cano leads all second baseman with 16 homers, which are good for top 17th most in the league. Que up the “it’s going to ruin his swing!” articles.
The others participants: Miggy Cabrera, David Ortiz, Vernon Wells, Corey Hart, and Matt Holliday.
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In before ITS GUNNA RUIN HIS SWING!!!!!11!
There isn’t much evidence to prove it one way or another.
I have a hard time understanding the logic behind the “post HRD funk”. A guy spends a couple hours trying to crank out some home runs, and this screws up his swing indefinitely for the season? Isn’t it glorified batting practice? I really just don’t understand any of the logic.
It happened to Bobby Abreu like, six years ago, and now everyone’s worried about it happening to every player in the HR derby.
And besides, we all know the real reason why Bobby stopped hitting homers after that Derby:
Laziness.
But … Robbie is … OH NO!!!
ietc
Didn’t Morneau win the thing in 2008 and then go on to crank out like another 20 homers?
Nope. Only 9. But he only hit 14 in the first half.
Anecdotal evidence that supports my preselected narrative >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> anecdotal evidence that refutes my preselected narrative
well then it happened to Wright as well i believe
Same as certain guys not golfing during the season. Similar swing that can (maybe) knock out the game swing rhythm.
I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense and it could just be a huge coincidence. There are examples on both sides of the argument (Pujols 2009, Hamilton 2008, Abreu 2005) and I’m sure there are plenty of examples of people participating and going on to having a great 2nd half. (I just haven’t done enough research)
Yeah, I dunno, a HRD-induced funk seems like the sort of thing that has no statistical theory behind it and thus something that a sabermetric-minded site such as this would discount as nonsense.
I mean it could just be a giant coincidence. But I wonder if there is anything to it. HR/AB rates are down in the few people I checked on.
Probably just regression, if you played in the HRD, you probably belted a lot of homers during your first half, and more likely than not, you overproduced.
Yeah, I dunno, a HRD-induced funk seems like the sort of thing that
has no statistical theory behind itsounds very stupid and thus something that asabermetric-minded site such as thissane-minded person would discount as nonsense.Hamilton’s home run rate was actually higher in the second half, he just had far fewer PAs
Agreed, and I’d lean towards assuming it doesn’t have any real effect, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t help anyone’s swing. I’d rather he weren’t.
The HR Derby participants will usually be players who are leading or close to leading the league in Home Runs at the ASB. Often they will be players you don’t expect to hit a lot of home runs who they are trying to reward for a hot first half (Wells, Cano, Hart). What’s more likely, that glorified batting practice has some horrible effect on a player’s swing or that the (often flukey) HR leaders Pre-ASB will be the exact same players who hit the most HRs post ASB?
For Reference:
Cano HR/FB: 15.7% (2010) 11.5% (Career)
Hart HR/FB: 18.1% (2010) 12.1% (Career)
Wells HR/FB: 18.8% (2010) 12.1% (Career)
We’re going to see these guys hit fewer home runs Post-ASB and it will have nothing to do with the HR Derby.
Also,
Abreu HR/FB by Month in 2005:
Mar/Apr: 4.2%
May: 52.4% (!!!)
June: 20.0%
July: 4.5% (This is probably where everybody freaked out about him not hitting HRs after the ASG)
August: 19.0%
Sep/Oct: 10.0%
He’s 13.5% for his career.
StatBoy FTW.
Weird. He is not really the slugger type, but I guess it is all in good fun.
Robinson Cano, SLG: .565. Good for 5th in the AL.
Touche. I should have inserted the term prototypical.
Better?
I really wish Cano wasn’t part of the HR derby.
Oh no. Not good.
I think I heard Eric Karros’s head explode.
His RBI skillz!!
Figure Cano is probably one of those guys that either hits 1 HR or wins the whole thing.
The others: Miggy Cabrera, David Ortiz, Vernon Wells, Corey Hart, and Matt Holliday.
Can’t say I would have predicted that before the season.
I’m a bit nervous but hopefully he goes out and destroys all.
I want Corey Hart wearing sunglasses during the Derby.
Kei Igawa is going to pitch to him.
they really should call Kei to the derby just to pitch to Robbie, guarenteed win
Haha you beat me to it!
The others participants: Miggy Cabrera, David Ortiz, Vernon Wells, Corey Hart, and Matt Holliday.
Wait, Big Papi is hitting? But who will leap around like a goofball oaf court jester with exaggerated antics after every shot hit by every participant? Can David clone himself in time to celebrate his own homers vicariously?
Will he be able to use Clone Papi afterwards to help him find the real killers?
Bugs me no end how easily he’s gotten away with the juicing. I’ll be booing vigorously with every swing.
Meh, I don’t even want to boo him. I want to boo the media assmunches who don’t badger the fuck out of him like they did with countless others.
like they did with countless others.
You mean like A-Rod and his family?
Considering how long he takes to round the bases, he will have plenty of time to clone himself.
Cano will probably take over with the foolishness during Papi’s at-bats.
him when everyone else hits
I wanna see Joey Votto in this thing.
http://www.sadtrombone.com
I wanna see Nick Swisher in this thing.
TWSS
Honest question here: does a Derby participant have to be selected to the All-Star game? Or can they grab anyone they like?
Okay, maybe two honest questions, or one and a follow-up.
I think so, and I’m going to cynically guess that that played a large part in why Carlos Pena was named to the game.
Pena isn’t in the Derby though?
you are quite right
I think so, and I’m going to cynically guess that that played a large part in why Carlos Pena was named to the game last year.
sorry
They don’t have to be participants of the all-star game
Wow. What a shitty HRD lineup.
It’s like an NBA Slam Dunk Competition headlined by Gerald Green.
Wait, that actually happened?!?! GTFO.
3 years from now, RAB article will have the headline:
Jesus Montero, Homerun Participant.
/Fantasing’d
3 years from now, RAB article will have the headline:
Jesus Montero, Homerun
Participant.Champion/Fantasing’d
Three years ago, an Ian O’Connor article dated a few days before the 2007 Home Run Derby was edited a few days after the Derby to have the headline:
Vladimir Guerrero, Home Run Derby Champion
I’ve been hoping for this for years, just because I want more of the world to know just how fuckin far Cano can hit the ball when he turns on it. However, I expect one of two things to happen:
1. Cano hits one home run in the derby, a liner the other way, gets knocked out in the first round, and goes his merry way (and continues his MVP-caliber season)
2. Cano zeroes in on only those pitches he can hit out, hits like 30 HRs, and finds that the whole experience, rather than throw off his swing, improves his plate discipline, and makes him a perpetual .330/.420/.600 hitter with ~35 HRs per year for the next decade.
Yeah.
Scenario 2 would be awesome.
jimp
Barry Bonds was .298/.444/.607 for his career
Scenario two = insanely unrealistic, but quite possibly the most awesome thing I have ever heard
330 avg? 360 or bust.
I don’t see Angels Stadium as being a great park to watch a home run derby in. It doesn’t have much charm or great milestone locations to try and hit. Seems the past few years have been some pretty neat HR parks.
Everyone wanted to see if Josh Hamilton could hit one out of Yankee Stadium, he didn’t, but he put quite a few deep in the upper deck. St. Louis had Big Mac Land or whatever it was, and San Francisco and Pittsburgh featured some splash hits.
Apart from the rocks in center, LA doesn’t seem all that interesting a place to hit a homer.
What’s wrong with the rocks? Most ballparks don’t have more than one interesting place to hit a home run
Maybe it’s just me, but the rocks are a nice touch for game HRs, but not particularly difficult to reach for a HR derby participant.
Not the bottom of the rocks, but I bet we’ll see some launched pretty far out there.
If nothing else, it will be better than the derby in SF where no lefties made it out of the first round. SF = really boring place for an all-righty derby.
Fun Fact: the longest homer ever hit at Edison Fields of Angel Stadium in Anaheim and Los Angeles of Southern California in the Great American West of the North American Continent inside the Western Hemisphere was hit in 2008. It went 466 feet.
Who hit it, you ask?
This guy.
Like Shea Stadium, for example. It’s so boring, it makes watching paint dry fun.
And I’m assuming there will be two more participants named later this week or early next. Unless MLB is cutting the field to just these six.
Maybe waiting on Joey Votto to win the fanvote.
CC should really participate in this
lol they should have him, dan haren and micah owings added to the competition
They could have a round of CC versus the Astros, first to one wins.
hahahahahahahahahahaha
See Dela G’s response, because I almost just typed out the exact same thing. Awesome.
and Zambrano. Actually Zambrano should just go to the All-Star Game, that’d make it so much better.
The HRD will never be as good as it was in the steroid era.
2008–not the steroid era
Teh facts!
The last time the Home Run Derby was at Edison Fields of Angel Stadium in Anaheim and Los Angeles of Southern California in the Great American West of the North American Continent inside the Western Hemisphere was 1989. Here were the final numbers from that contest:
1989 Home Run Derby
American League
Rubén Sierra,Texas: 3
Mickey Tettleton, Baltimore: 1
Bo Jackson, Kansas City: 1
Gary Gaetti, Minnesota: 0
National League
Eric Davis, Cincinnati: 3 (winner)
Glenn Davis, Houston: 2
Howard Johnson, New York: 2
Kevin Mitchell, San Francisco: 2
The sad thing is, I didn’t make any of that up at all.
Man, the 80s sucked
Sierra was a monster!
The original El Caballo.
Oh my God that’s hilarious.
Mitchell had to be the favorite going into that i’m guessing…wasn’t Gaetti just a diaper hitter?
Where was Mac, Canseco, Crimedog & the Griffey?
and Oswald acted alone.
No Omar Infante?
I got a text that Cano pulled out <— hurray