Minneapolis – 2014 All Star Game – HR Derby
The professional ranks take a break from the regular season to begin the week, but a select few stars will put their skills on display in Monday’s Home Run Derby. Both the American League and National League will be putting some dynamic power hitters on display.
This year’s version of the event will feature some changes. In an effort to pick up the pace of the event, the number of outs per participant has dropped from 10 to seven.
The event will also see the participants work through a bracket-style elimination round.
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Each league will send five players to the plate in the opening round. The top player from each league will get a bye through to the third round.
The second and third seeds from each league will participate in the second round, with those winners advancing to the third round to take on the top seeds from the first round. Then, the winners from the third round will face off in the final round, with the winner to be crowned Home Run Derby champion.
Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins certainly will draw some serious consideration to be the one left standing when all is said and done. The raw power he possesses has led to some serious moonshots when he steps to the plate. If nothing else, he could win the tale of the tape.
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NL captain Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies has knocked out 20 bombs thus far, and knows what it takes to drive the ball out of a big ballpark, which is what the participants will be facing at spacious Target Field.
Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers will surely be a favorite of fans and bettors alike, but he’s knocked out only a single home run since May 28.
While the hype surrounding Puig is certainly great, and there’s little doubt he’ll give an A-effort in this exhibition, he simply doesn’t have the raw power that his counterparts do.
A.L. captain Jose Bautista’s squad is headlined by defending champion Yoenis Cespedes, who looks to become the first back-to-back winner of this event since Ken Griffey Jr. back in 1998 and 1999.
Interestingly enough, the dimensions of Target Field offer an advantage to one player.
Justin Morneau of the Colorado Rockies is the lone left-handed hitter in the field, and with both the right field foul pole and the right field power alley both 10 feet closer to home plate than the same points in left field, Morneau won’t have as much work to do as his right-handed counterparts.
He also has the distinction of winning the event back in 2008.
The play: Giancarlo Stanton +240, Justin Morneau +12
Here’s a look at the full list of odds for the 2014 MLB Home Run Derby:
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- Giancarlo Stanton +240
- Jose Bautista +500
- Yoenis Cespedes +500
- Yasiel Puig +500
- Troy Tulowitzki +650
- Josh Donaldson +850
- Todd Frazier +1200
- Adam Jones +1200
- Justin Morneau +1200
- Brian Dozier +1400
