Both Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez will have familiar faces throwing to them in Monday's T-Mobile Home Run Derby. Schwarber asked Mike Sinicola, a real estate agent who played college baseball and has thrown batting practice for the Cubs outfielder in Tampa, Fla., for a few years, while Baez is going to rely on his older brother Gadiel, 27.
He is who we thought he was. Aaron Judge arrived in Miami for the All-Star Game festivities surrounded by daunting expectations stemming from his colossal first half with the New York Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton has fielded so many Judge-related questions here, he has run out of things to say. A baseball card signed by Judge just sold on eBay for more than $14,000. Prognosticators all expected Judge to make a deep run in the Home Run Derby, even though his only previous experience in the event came at Fresno State, when he captured the 2012 College World Series derby in Omaha.
Who should hit dingers in a contrived format? These players. Only these players.
Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge are no-brainers. But what about the other six spots?
Giancarlo Stanton pummeled 61 balls into the Petco Park seats during Monday night’s MLB Home Run Derby, but his titanic blasts had nothing on the hit one young fan absorbed while shagging balls in the outfield.
With all due respect to Giancarlo Stanton, David Ortiz might have been the most popular guy at Petco Park on Monday night.
Giancarlo Stanton assaulted fans in San Diego on Monday night, turning a silly exhibition into something much more.
The 2015 Home Run Derby will be televised Monday night by ESPN. Here is how to follow the event from Cincinnati on TV, online and via radio.
Here is a numerical model to explore baseball range and density.
Let's take a look at each of the 2015 Home Run Derby combatants through the prism of the numbers.
Major League Baseball realized it had a problem with one of its signature events. The Home Run Derby is a pillar of the All-Star break and ideally a memorable part of the summer while the NFL and NBA are on hiatus. However, the event can become monotonous after a while, and having it go on for hour after hour saps the drama.
Event features single-elimination bracket for first time
As is the case annually, the Monday before the All-Star Game -- known simply as All-Star Monday -- will feature the main event that is the Home Run Derby, starting at 8 p.m. ET. The contestants for the event were revealed Wednesday night and here they are:
Over Sunday and Monday, the rosters for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game were released, and now we know who will be part of the Home Run Derby the on Monday, July 13th at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati and broadcast live by ESPN and MLB.com beginning at 8:00 p.m. (ET). The derby, which is arguably the more marketing-driven content of the All-Star Game week, continues to see the up-and-coming stars along with veteran players.
Chicago Cubs rookie Kris Bryant was drawn into the same opening round as Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols for the Home Run Derby, which will determine baseball's homer king. Baltimore's Manny Machado will face Dodgers rookie Joc Pederson in the other matchup in that part of the bracket, which was announced Wednesday.
Ken Griffey Jr., a 13-time All-Star and three-time Home Run Derby champ, said the Home Run Derby is bigger than the game itself at this point. The ticket prices — an average of $360.88 per ticket, according to tiqiq.com — show that there are certainly people willing to pay to see baseball's best hit home runs at Great American Ball Park on Monday.
Ok, I am going to admit it. Going to admit it in front of all my colleagues here at Fantasy Alarm. Yep. You betcha. Jeff Mans, Ray Flowers and John Desantis are going to be pissed. I want to be honest so here it goes.
The Nationals broke out of their offensive slump in a big way against the Marlins today. Center fielder Michael A. Taylor set the tone immediately with a lead off solo blast in the first. Right fielder Bryce Harper and catchers Wilson Ramos and Jose Lobaton also went deep for the Nats. Washington starter Doug Fister ran into his own problem with the longball. The Marlins hit three homers off Fister, including a two-run shot by right fielder Giancarlo Stanton. Fister has now allowed six home runs in five starts this spring.
The Major League Baseball season is almost here. Let’s throw crap at the wall. Making predictions always ends up being a fruitless exercise, as it really just opens the door for outside criticism and relentless heckling. But since yours truly is immune to both of those activities, let’s rattle off some sizzling sports takes before the 2015 season begins
It was popular last year, so, just like the Fast and the Furious movie series, we are going to run MY bold, fearless and insane predictions into the ground! No, but really, last year I gave you 105 predictions, but this year, in honor of my Cubs not winning the World Series once again, I give you: