Baseball’s All-Star festivities really do land at the
perfect time on the sports calendar. By mid-July, the offseason in both the NBA
and NHL has usually simmered down with most of the summer’s high-profile free
agents already inked up to new contracts and both leagues have their drafts in
late June. Football is getting closer, and many fans across the country are
surely counting down the days until their favorite team opens training camp,
but it’s not here yet. Therefore, there’s no better time for baseball to showcase
its top talent than this week every year in the middle of July.
For some, the Home Run Derby can be more entertaining than the
actual All-Star game. This year, it’s certainly a possibility that many fans
feel that way given the field. Starting at the top where the number one seed in
this year’s bracket is the defending champion Giancarlo Stanton from the Miami
Marlins. Standing at 6’6”, Stanton has long been an imposing matchup for
pitchers and has grown to be known for his mammoth home runs. This year he gets
to participate in the event at home with all the All-Star events taking place
at Marlins Park.
Stanton’s opponent in the opening round tonight is New York
Yankees’ catcher, 24-year-old Gary Sanchez. Sanchez had his first extended stay
in the major leagues last year and came out of the gate hot and never slowed
down. The Dominican-born catcher hit 20 homers in just 53 games with the
Yankees and would have ran away with the American League’s Rookie of the Year
award had he been promoted earlier in the season. In 57 games so far in 2017,
Sanchez has 13 homers. Due to injuries and the torrid pace that a certain
teammate of Sanchez’s has been on offensively, Sanchez been overshadowed to a
certain degree but could absolutely raise some eyebrows by upsetting Stanton
tonight.
That teammate of Sanchez’s is of course, Aaron Judge. The
25-year-old rookie enters the All-Star break boasting a .329 batting average,
and has 30 home runs to go with a .448 on-base percentage. With Mike Trout
having missed over a month with a thumb injury, it’s very possible Judge is the
first player since Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 to win both the Rookie of the Year and
MVP awards in one league. However, Trout is due back for the Angels in the first
game after the break so it’s far too early to hand Judge the MVP award. Judge
has drawn comparisons to Stanton thanks to his gigantic 6’7” frame and tape
measure shots that fly out of parks in a hurry. Judge enters tonight as the
number two seed and faces another Marlin, Justin Bour, in the first round.
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| Frank Franklin II/AP and Harry How/Getty Images |
Much how Judge has dominated American League pitching in the
first half of the season, Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers has done
the same to National League pitchers. It must be a welcomed sight for
commissioner Rob Manfred that two of the fastest rising stars in baseball and
runaway rookies of the year in their respective leagues are having such seasons
in two big sports markets. A Yankees-Dodgers World Series would certainly be a
good matchup for Major League Baseball as was last year’s matchup between the
Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians was. At age 21, Bellinger sports a natural
home run swing that has resulted in him launching 25 bombs in 70 games since his
promotion to the big leagues.
One other name to keep an eye on tonight is another native
of the Dominican Republic. Miguel Sano of the Minnesota Twins is in his third
season in the majors and his 21 dingers and .276 batting average are a big
reason why the Twins have overachieved so far and find themselves just 2.5
games behind the defending American League champion Indians in the AL Central. Sano
is one of several young players that is responsible for Minnesota’s surprising
first half and his bat has always been touted going back to his days in the
Twins’ farm system.
The Home Run Derby is always an entertaining event. But when
it features several of the next generation’s stars, it’s a much better
spectacle. I like Bellinger to win tonight, but what’s most important
regardless of who wins is that one of the biggest events in the sport is
showcasing lots of its young talent. That’s what added to last year’s drama in
the World Series. Everyone knew one of the two teams was going to halt a long
championship drought, but the Cubs and Indians were two teams that successfully
rebuilt to become contenders and featured tons of young players in their
lineups. Perhaps one criticism of tonight’s field is that it does not feature a
member of the Houston Astros. Owners of the best record in the American League,
Houston is perhaps the most dangerous offensive team in baseball and is another
team that’s having success with several young players in its lineup.
Nevertheless, tonight figures to be a special Home Run Derby.
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