2014 Home Run Derby teams announced
Tuesday the 2014 Home Run Derby captains, Troy Tulowitzki of the National League’s Colorado Rockies and Jose Bautista of the American League’s Toronto Blue Jays, announced their three choices for their Home Run Derby team. The last two participants will be announced on Thursday for a total of ten players, five on each team.
Tulowitzki’s, or Tulo as most people seem to call him, team will consist of, so far, the Miami Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig and Todd Frazier of the Cincinnati Reds.
Jose Bautista also known around the league as Joey Bats’ team will have the reigning Home Run Derby Champion, from the Oakland Athletics, Yoenis Cespedes. Bautista also chose a home town hero, the All-Star game is being held at Minnesota’s Target Field, Brian Dozier of the Minnesota Twins and Adam Jones from the Baltimore Orioles.
Those are both pretty stacked line-ups considering of all of them only Stanton is in the top five in the majors in home runs with 21. He leads the National League in the category.
For the American League there is still a chance that at least one of the league’s home run leaders will make the team. The fifth participant will be one of three: Nelson Cruz of the Baltimore Orioles who leads the AL with 28 homers, White Sox rookie Jose Abreu (27) or Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers.
Martinez will probably choose not to participate. He has been missing games lately because of injury, although he has not yet been put on the disabled list. Joey Bats’ teammate Edwin Encarnacion would have been another good candidate, however he was just put on the DL after injuring his right quad on Saturday.
Angels’ super star Mike Trout and back-to-back AL MVP Miguel Cabrera from the Tigers have both opted out of the competition. The derby should still be a great show. Tulowitzki said of his team,
“Bunch of guys with a lot of power. More than that, I think they’re good guys, got to know them throughout the years.”
Tulo’s teammate Justin Morneau is another candidate for the National League’s team. He spent many years with the Twins before joining the Rockies. Tulowitzki thinks it should make a good story if Morneau makes the team saying,
“If he wins that final vote, there’s possibly a chance. I think it would make a storyline. Played with the Twins all those years. He’s definitely on the list if he makes the team. There are some other guys as well that have lobbied and would be good choices.”
You can expect to see a lot from the A’s Cespedes who will be defending his crown as the home run champ. Both A’s general manager Billy Beane and manager Bob Melvin both expressed concern over his participation in the derby due to a trend that derby participants often do not produce as effectively in the second half. Cespedes was serious about participating. The “Cuban Missile” told the San Francisco Chronicle, in a rare instance using English,
“I want to. It’s my choice.”
With so many tough competitors on the two teams, this year’s derby is bound to be quite a show.