With just a few days remaining before the annual Home Run Derby competition, the field has been set with the eight players vying for the silver bat trophy.
This year the All Star festivities are being held in Atlanta after a 25 year absence. But the “launching pad” no longer exists; the Braves new home is Truist Park.
Returning after a long absence for injury, Atlanta Braves player Ronald Acuna Jr returns for his third Home Run Derby…and maybe a little home field advantage??? He is hoping to join Bryce Harper, Todd Frazier, and Ryne Sandberg as home run derby champions to win at home.
Acuna currently has eleven home runs.
MLB has announced that Acuna will no longer be a part of the Home Run Derby and possible the All Star Game itself. No official reason was given but Acuna was taken out of the game earlier this week with back tightness.
Fellow Atlanta Brave and Atlanta native Matt Olsen will replace Acuna in the Home Run Derby.
Switch hitting Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh leads the Majors in home runs with 36; more than star players Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani!
When asked about participating in the Home Run Derby, Raleigh said he, “would do that in a heartbeat!”. He was the first player to announce his participation in the competition.
Power hitter James Wood from the Washington Nationals has 24 home runs so far this season…and he is only 22 years old. The 6-foot-seven-inch Wood was recently walked intentionally four times in a single game; Barry Bonds is the only other player with such a statistic.
Georgia native Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins has earned his second trip to the All Star Game and is returning to where it all began…the Peach State of Georgia.
In San Francisco they have the “splash balls” into McCovey Cove. With Pittsburgh Pirates player Oneil Cruz, they also have the “splash ball” into the Allegheny River. Statcast has the ball recorded at leaving the bat at 122.9 mph!!! Six of the home run balls hit at least 120mph are owned by Cruz.
Last year the Tampa Bay Rays lost their home at Tropicana Field to hurricane damage. This year they are playing outside at Steinbrenner Field while a new home is being constructed. Manager Kevin Cash and the team have not let it slow them down. Twenty-two year old third baseman Junior Caminero has 23 home runs has earned his first trip to the All Star game.
Athletics player Brent Rooker returns to the Home Run Derby and hopes to join Yoenis Céspedes Ken Griffey Jr. as the only player to win the Derby back to back.
The last player to announce his participation in the Home Run Derby is Yankees player Jazz Chisholm Jr. He is a frequent participant in the “Don’t Blink Home Run Derby” in his native Bahamas.