The 2016 Home Run Derby on Sling TV
8pm ET Monday on ESPN
Last year, Todd Frazier, then of the Cincinnati Reds, became just the second player to win the Home Run Derby in his home park, besting Joc Pederson in the final round 15-14. This year Frazier is with the White Sox, but he’s eager to defend his title, against a field seeded by their number of home runs (all stats through June 7):
#1 Mark Trumbo (26 HR, 337 AB, 13 AB/HR)
#8 Corey Seager (17 HR, 341 AB, 20.1 AB/HR)
Trumbo has 9 more homers than Seager in the 4 fewer at bats – No sane person would trade Seager for two Trumbos if they were trying to win a World Series, but a Home Run Derby, Trumbo has to be the favorite.
#4 Robinson Cano (20 HR, 351 AB, 17.6 AB/HR)
#5 Giancarlo Stanton (19 HR, 268 AB, 14.1 AB/HR)
Cano won the Derby back in 2011, when he was 28, and he remains an elite player, probably a Hall of Famer, but Giancarlo hits the kind of towering majestic moon shots that kids dream about while playing wiffle ball in the backyard, hitting them an average of 421.8 feet, tops among players with 12 or more HR. Advantage: Stanton.
#3 Adam Duvall (22 HR, 289 AB, 13.1 AB/HR)
#6 Wil Myers (19 HR, 327 AB, 17.2 AB/HR)
Wil Myers seems like the safer bet given that he was a much heralded prospect and a Rookie of the Year winner, while Adam Duvall has kinda come out of nowhere. But Duvall hit 115 home runs in the previous four seasons spent mostly in the minors, and still found time to hit 8 home runs in 137 at bats over the previous two seasons. Myers is the better player, but Duvall can mash.
#2 Todd Frazier (23 HR, 308 AB, 13.4 AB/HR)
#7 Carlos Gonzalez (18 HR, 324 AB, 18 AB/HR)
The defending champ, Frazier, has 5 more homers in 16 fewer ABs, and CarGo’s homer totals benefit greatly from playing half his games in Coors Field. In 148 at bats at home this year, Gomez has 13 home runs, but in 172 at bats on the road, he has just 5, or one every 34.4 at bats – that’s no way to win a home run derby.
And if that’s not enough baseball for you, after the Derby you can watch the All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, featuring Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, Mark Paul Gosselaar (“Saved by the Bell”), JK Simmons (“Whiplash”), New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees, Terry Crews (“Idiocracy”), SI swimsuit model Nina Agdal, Hall of Famer Andre “The Hawk” Dawson, all-time leading scorer for the US Men’s soccer team Landon Donovan, Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers, Olympic softball gold medalist Jennie Finch, Fall Out Boys Pete Wentz, SNL’s Kyle Mooney, Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, and other baseball greats like Fred Lynn, Vlad Guerrero, David Wells, among other.
All stats courtesy of ESPN and Baseball Reference