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• While Guerrero may have made the biggest impression in the 2019 Derby, it was Alonso who walked away with the trophy (and the $1 million prize). He did it by launching 57 total homers , including 20 in a semifinal victory over Ronald Acuña Jr. and 23 in the final showdown with Guerrero. Alonso earned bonus time in all three rounds by hitting at least three homers 440-plus feet, but he never actually needed it -- walking off his opponent before the end of regulation. • Story has been one of MLB’s top power threats ever since he debuted with a two-homer Opening Day in 2016. He remains the only player in AL or NL history to homer in four straight games to begin his career, with six total dingers in that span. Ohtani has of course been a complete anomaly as far as baseball performances.
The Braves outfielder missed the team’s 2021 World Series run after suffering a torn ACL last July. He made his 2022 debut in late April and has returned to All-Star form, contributing eight homers, 22 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 56 games. Fans showed how much they wanted to see Acuña in the All-Star Game, making him the NL’s leading vote-getter. 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.
Who's ready to bash? Meet the eight Home Run Derby competitors
Rangers shortstop Corey Seager -- announced as an All-Star replacement -- was named the final entrant of the eight-player field during the T-Mobile Home Run Derby Bracket Show on ESPN Thursday night. 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. 'Therefore, we apologise to the Victory fan base, players, and staff who have constantly backed us. Football fans in this country remaining united and peaceful in their protest, was, and still is, the only path forward,' the fan group's statement read.
Alonso is set to defend his title when competing in this year’s event on Monday. He is striving to join Ken Griffey Jr. as the only three-time champion of the event. The 2022 MLB Home Run Derby is set to take place Monday, July 18 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. in Dodger Stadium, which is hosting the event). We had already seen plenty of reports leading up to the official announcement, but the bracket was revealed Thursday night. • Soto succeeded Bryce Harper as the Nationals’ superstar, and now he will try to succeed him as a Derby champion.
Trevor Story
"I don't think he was sure if it was good news or bad news," Mancini said. This year’s event poses to be an exciting one with eight competitors taking rips in front of the Dodger Stadium crowd. Before jumping into it, we’ll take a look back at last year’s winner. You can wear the same gear as your favorite players by buying official hats, shirts, hoodies, and jerseys now.
Harper won the event in 2018 in Washington and also finished as the runner-up in 2013, but no other player in Nats history has ever participated until now. The Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the only MLB player with more non-pulled homers this season than Ohtani’s 17, and in Ohtani’s career, 45% of his big flies have gone to the middle third of the field. Will Ohtani add to his jaw-dropping season by putting on a show at altitude? All of those questions will be answered on Monday, but in the meantime, here is a breakdown of each competitor. One of the best hitters in baseball perennially, Ramirez has 17 home runs and 68 RBIs for the Guardians in 2022.
It will be a star-studded event on July 18 at Dodger Stadium
"I promised him back then -- half-serious, half-joking -- that he could throw to me if I was ever in the major league Home Run Derby," Mancini recalled in a Streamyard call the other day. The left-handed batter has pulled about two-thirds of his career homers. • No doubt it'll be fun for Olson to participate in the All-Star festivities at Coors Field, which ranks as MLB’s most offense-friendly stadium, and the sixth most in terms of home runs, per Statcast park factors. The Oakland Coliseum ranks near the bottom of the league in both categories. In his career, Olson has hit 67 homers on the road, compared with 59 at home. • Even with the pandemic-shortened 2020 and a couple of injuries, Soto is the 18th player in AL or NL history to hit at least 80 home runs by the end of his age-22 season.
• Gallo hits some of the most extreme dingers in the game. He owns two career homers that have traveled 490-plus feet, including a 495-footer on July 20, 2018, that is tied for fifth longest in the Statcast era. Since 2017, Gallo’s 51 homers of 110-plus mph rank second in MLB behind the Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton, while his 16 homers of 450-plus feet are tied with Stanton for the most. Gallo is also tied for first with eight moonshots struck with a launch angle of 40-plus degrees. Alonso is trying to become the first player to win the derby three straight times. He tops the majors with 78 RBIs and has hit 24 home runs this season for the NL East-leading New York Mets.
• At 42 years old, Pujols will become the oldest Home Run Derby participant. Only six others have competed in the event at least that many times (Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Prince Fielder, Barry Bonds and David Ortiz). There has never been a pitcher compete in the Home Run Derby. Soon, however, that will no longer be the case as Ohtani has committed to take his hacks in the event. A few players have already signaled that they will not be participating in the 2021 Home Run Derby.
'We'll work with Victoria Police first, there's obviously a police investigation, then we'll work with Football Australia in relation to what happens as a result,' said Carnegie. 'Maybe it was a little bit silly on Tom's behalf , but there is no defending what happened last night in any way, shape or form. Fans, from the Victory area, then stormed onto the pitch and Glover and referee Alex King were both struck by the metal bucket, which is filled with sand and used to dispose of flares. I'm disgraced and appalled at what happened last night,' she said. 'What they've done is they've hurt the club, the sport and the league, and hurt all the good work that came off the back of the Socceroos' campaign, and we don't want that around,' said Carnegie.
You can be the greatest athlete in the world, and Shohei Ohtani might be, but if his pitcher is saturated with anxiety and bounces balls in the dirt, there's nothing he can do. • Perez is working against history in a couple of ways. First, no Royals player has won the Derby, with Mike Moustakas the team’s only other entrant in the past 30 years. Second, no catcher has won the Derby, with Ivan Rodriguez in 2005 the last to even finish second.
ESPN will be carrying the Home Run Derby before Fox broadcasts the All-Star Game the following day. Those hoping to stream the event can watch it on ESPN+ or on fuboTV, which offers a seven-day free trial. Among them, one of the players likely to generate the most disappointment is Guerrero, who put on a show in the 2019 Home Run Derby before falling to Alonso in the finals, Hazel Mae reported on Twitter. 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.
He hit 36 dingers last season and had a career-high 39 bombs in 2018. • Soto says his goal for this Home Run Derby is to hit the longest opposite-field home run. He'd be the one to do it -- since his debut season in 2018, Soto's 41 opposite-field homers are the most of any left-handed hitter, and tied for second-most overall with J.D. • The 21-year-old is the only rookie with multiple home runs further than 440 feet this season.
'I was at the game and I've watched the vision of what happened a number of times and see the behaviour as disgusting. 'I'm a lover of the game, and I actually feel sad about what I saw play out on the pitch last night. His team were just 20 minutes into the match against Melbourne Victory when 150 spectators rushed onto the field, forcing the game to be called off.
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