Home Run Derby Archives - River Avenue Blues

2018 Home Run Derby Open Thread

July 16, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Home Run Derby is a little less exciting this year. Last year Aaron Judge stole the show and won the whole damn thing convincingly, but unfortunately he elected not to defend his title this year. A bummer — I’m not sure there’s anything in baseball I enjoy more than watching Judge hit dingers — though it’s probably for the best. The extra rest can only help.

A few years ago MLB revamped the Home Run Derby format to make things more exciting and hey, it worked. Now it’s a head-to-head bracket style tournament with a race against the clock. We’ve seen a few brackets go down to the final seconds in recent years. Here is the 2018 Home Run Derby bracket:

I’m going to put my money on — note: I am not actually putting money on the Home Run Derby — on Jesus Aguilar. Why? No reason, really. He socks dingers and I enjoy watching him play. Good story too. Aguilar spent a long time in the minors before finally getting a chance to prove himself in the big leagues, and he’s made the most of his opportunity.

The 2018 Home Run Derby will begin at 8pm ET and you can watch on ESPN. Talk about the Home Run Derby or anything else here tonight.

Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t yet thought about participating in the 2018 Home Run Derby

June 30, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

At some point soon, likely within the next week, MLB will announce the eight participants for the 2018 Home Run Derby. The Home Run Derby itself will take place Monday, July 16th, at Nationals Park.

We know this much: Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres will not be there. Judge has said he’s “~~one~~ won and done” with the Home Run Derby and Torres says he’ll pass on the event. Gary Sanchez is hurt, so you can rule him out too. Others like Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez have indicated they’ll pass on the Home Run Derby as well. Mike Trout’s never done it and there’s no reason to think he’ll do it this year.

What about Giancarlo Stanton? “I haven’t thought about it,” he said to Pete Caldera earlier this week. MLB typically asks players to participate two weeks before the event and Stanton said that’s when he’ll consider whether to participate. Giancarlo is a Home Run Derby veteran who won the event in 2016. Some numbers, since I know many of you out there are wondering:

	First Half	Second Half
2014	.295/.395/.538 (157 wRC+)	.274/.396/.586 (168 wRC+)
2016	.233/.328/.495 (119 wRC+)	.254/.322/.478 (109 wRC+)
2017	.277/.360/.572 (140 wRC+)	.287/.393/.702 (175 wRC+)

Three career Home Run Derbies with no notable drop in performance in the second half. Heck, Stanton’s been better in the second half in two of this three Home Run Derby years, and last season he went on that insane second half tear after the Home Run Derby. Stanton is a Home Run Derby veteran who knows how to produce before, during, and after the event. Not worried about it at all, if he chooses to participate.

Stanton went into last night’s game hitting .265/.337/.510 (128 wRC+) with 19 homers in 77 games, including .306/.373/.602 (161 wRC+) with eighth homers in June. He’s got a pretty good chance to be an All-Star reserve. Players have participated in the Home Run Derby without being an All-Star — Stanton himself did it in 2016, though that might’ve been because it was near home in Southern California — so that’s not a prerequisite.

I know this much: MLB is going to want a Yankee in the Home Run Derby. The Yankees are good and the Yankees are popular, and they’ll help draw eyeballs to the event. With Judge and Torres passing, and Sanchez hurt, Stanton is the team’s obvious candidate to participate in the Home Run Derby. If he passes, would they ask Didi Gregorius? Miguel Andujar? Aaron Hicks? We’ll see.

Judge of course won the Home Run Derby last season. Robinson Cano (2011), Jason Giambi (2002), and Tino Martinez (1997) also won the event while with the Yankees.

Gleyber Torres says he’s going to pass on the Home Run Derby

June 21, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

According to Ken Davidoff, Gleyber Torres said he will pass on participating in the Home Run Derby next month. It’s unknown whether MLB has invited him, but it doesn’t matter now. Torres will pass. “I’m not a home-run hitter. I’m a contact hitter,” he said.

Gleyber may not seem like the Home Run Derby type, but there are a few things to keep in mind here. One, MLB definitely wants a Yankee involved to generate buzz, and an exciting young Yankee would be preferable. Two, Torres has socked a lot of dingers lately. Here is the home run leaderboard since the day he was called up:

J.D. Martinez: 18
Jose Ramirez: 17
Mike Trout: 15
Khris Davis: 15
Gleyber Torres: 14 (tied with five others)

And three, several big names have already says they’re going to pass on the Home Run Derby this year, including Aaron Judge. Others like J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts have said they’re unlikely to take their hacks in the Home Run Derby. Even Bryce Harper is supposed on the fence and the game is at Nationals Park.

With so many big name players passing on the Home Run Derby, MLB needs some guys fans want to see — Justin Bour and Charlie Blackmon were in the Home Run Derby last year, and no offense to them, but not many folks tuned in to see those two hit — and Torres is definitely one of those guys. Instead, he’s passing.

I’d bet the farm on at least one Yankee participating in the Home Run Derby. MLB wants a Yankee there. With Judge and Torres out, Giancarlo Stanton makes sense, especially since he’s done it a bunch of times before and won it two years ago. I suppose Gary Sanchez is a possibility too. Maybe Miguel Andujar? We’ll see. I’d bet on there being at least one Yankee sin the Home Run Derby though.

Torres, 21, came into today hitting .287/.344/.556 (142 wRC+) with those 14 home runs in 51 big league games. He’s not going to beat out Jose Altuve in the fan voting for a spot in the starting lineup, but Gleyber definitely has a chance to go to the All-Star Game as a rookie.

Aaron Judge says he’s probably “one and done” with the Home Run Derby

March 8, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

On the latest episode of the R2C2 podcast, Aaron Judge said he’s probably done with the Home Run Derby. “I think I am one and done,” he said, specifically. I thought he was joking around when I heard it on the podcast, but today in Tampa, Judge doubled down and told reporters he’s probably not going to participate in the Home Run Derby again.

“One and done is good for me,” said Judge to Brendan Kuty, adding the decision is not final. “I’m a Home Run Derby champion. It was a cool experience. I enjoyed it all but I don’t think I really need to go out there and do it again. I won it once.”

Judge won the Home Run Derby last season before slipping into a second half slump, which of course plenty of folks blamed on the Home Run Derby. Why does no one credit the Home Run Derby when something good happens? Maybe it helped Giancarlo Stanton hit those 27 homers in his first 49 games after the break. So weird how we only focus on the negative.

Anyway, Judge said he’d “rather not say” whether the Home Run Derby contributed to his shoulder injury and second half slump. Earlier this spring he said the shoulder issue first popped up after crashing into the wall making a catch at some point before the All-Star break, though I suppose the Home Run Derby could’ve exacerbated things.

Also, on the podcast, Judge talked about the All-Star break not feeling like a break last season. The Yankees played Sunday, there was media day and the Home Run Derby on Monday, the All-Star Game on Tuesday, and then really only one day off before rejoining the team. I imagine that factored into Judge’s decision to skip the Home Run Derby going forward.

I am pro dingers so this news is a bummer to me. I was hoping to at least see Judge defend his title this season. Then again, the Yankees have two other Home Run Derby candidates on the roster, maybe four if Greg Bird stays healthy, so no Judge probably won’t be a big deal. Still would’ve been fun to see the big guy take his hacks again though.

Aaron Judge wins 2017 Home Run Derby, all our hearts

July 10, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

If you don't know now you know. (Presswire) — If you don’t know now you know. (Presswire)

Monday night at Miami, Aaron Judge stole the show and won the 2017 Home Run Derby. He beat Justin Bour 23-22 in the first round, Cody Bellinger 13-12 in the second round, and Miguel Sano 11-10 in the third round. Judge was on another level. The last two rounds were actually anticlimactic.

The first round matchup with Bour was the highlight of the night. The hometown Marlin clubbed an incredible 22 home runs and had the crowd going nuts. Judge came back to hit 23 with time to spare. It was amazing. Bour had an amazing and fun round, and Judge knocked him right out.

In the second round Judge socked home runs measuring 504, 507, and 513 feet. He also hit one off the Marlins Park roof that didn’t count, so he really socked 24 against Bour. Judge also went opposite field into the second deck a few times, where the lefty power guys were hitting bombs. It was insane. Here’s some video:

Is @TheJudge44 real life?@TMobile #HRDerby pic.twitter.com/jrngUAQlX8

— All-Star Game (@AllStarGame) July 11, 2017

Judge is the fourth Yankee to win the Home Run Derby, joining Tino Martinez (1999), Jason Giambi (2003), and Robinson Cano (2011). His 47 home runs are a Yankees record for the Home Run Derby. He could have topped Stanton’s record of 61 homers had they allowed him to hit until time expires. (As the higher seed, his round ended as soon as he topped his opponent’s total.)

As for Gary Sanchez, he knocked off Stanton in the first round 17-16 before losing to Sano in the second round 11-10. Sanchez seemed to run out of gas in the second round. Oh well. Nice try, Gary. Not bad for the second most awesome young Yankees slugger.

2017 Home Run Derby Open Thread

July 10, 2017 by Domenic Lanza Leave a Comment

This is the first time that I have ever been excited for the Home Run Derby. I’ve enjoyed watching it before, to be sure, and I will never cease to be amazed by the towering shots that most of the competitors are capable of hitting on a year-to-year basis – but it has never before felt like must-see TV. And, despite my own Yankees fandom, it isn’t just because of Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.

Well, to be fair, it is mostly because of Judge and Sanchez. At the same time, though, I’m excited to see Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Sano, who were jockeying for the “most impressive batting practice” crown before Judge arrived on the scene. I’m similarly stoked to see Cody Bellinger come to the plate, as he has essentially played the role of Aaron Judge West this year. And seeing MLB use this event as an opportunity to market three young, blossoming stars in NYC and Los Angeles is basically a feather in its cap.

Here is tonight’s bracket:

This sets up the possibility of a Judge vs. Bellinger semi-finals, and a Judge vs. Stanton (or Sanchez) finals. It’s rare that something as simple as a bracket is intriguing, but here we are.

The Home Run Derby will begin at 8 PM EST, and will be broadcast on ESPN. Feel free to discuss the derby and anything else (that isn’t religion or politics) here.

Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez will participate in the 2017 Home Run Derby

July 3, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees will have not one, but two players in the Home Run Derby this year. Both Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez announced today they have accepted Home Run Derby invitations and will take their hacks next Monday at Marlins Park. Awesome. Here’s their announcement. Both guys are planning to use Yankees regular batting practice pitcher Danilo Valiente for the Home Run Derby.

It’s uncommon but not unprecedented for one team to have two players in the Home Run Derby. Both Josh Donaldson and Yoenis Cespedes were in the Home Run Derby in 2014, when they were with the Athletics. Troy Tulowitzki and Justin Morneau did it as members of the Rockies that year too. There have been other teammates in the Home Run Derby over the years as well.

Judge and Sanchez will be the first Yankees to participate in the Home Run Derby since Robinson Cano swung away in three straight from 2011-13. The last Yankee other than Cano in the Home Run Derby was Nick Swisher in 2010. Three Yankees have won the Home Run Derby: Cano (2011), Jason Giambi (2002), and Tino Martinez (1997). Giambi finished third in the 2003 Home Run Derby.

MLB changed the Home Run Derby format two years ago. Players are now given five minutes to hit as many home runs as possible — they can earn bonus time based on home run distance and things like that — and they meet head-to-head in a bracket style tournament, so it’s possible Judge and Sanchez could face each other. The players are seeded 1-8 based on their season homer total.

I’m sure there are some people out there freaking out about Judge and/or Sanchez screwing up their swings in the Home Run Derby, though the “curse” is largely a myth. There’s been a ton of research on it, like this, this, and this. Pick eight players at random and chances are several of them will perform worse in the second half than the first. That’s all the Home Run Derby curse is. Just sit back and enjoy it.

So far the only other confirmed Home Run Derby contestants are Giancarlo Stanton, the defending champ and token hometown player, and Miguel Sano. Cody Bellinger has been invited, though he said he will not participate unless his father (ex-Yankee Clay Bellinger) can rearrange his schedule to make it to Miami to pitch to him. Both Joey Gallo and Bryce Harper declined invites.