The "teams" for the 2012
Home Run Derby have been announced. The NL team will be captained by Matt Kemp
and he selected Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Gomez to join him.
Robinson Cano, the AL captain and defending champion, chose Jose Bautista,
Prince Fielder, and Mark Trumbo to round out his squad. Right away, I like the
AL to win, and I'd put my money on Bautista to take the whole thing.
But that's not the point of this blog. There are actually a couple of points I'd like to discuss. One, I hate the idea of Kemp participating, and two, would you want the star slugger of your team to take part in the derby?
First off, Kemp is on the DL right now. It's the second time this season he's missed time with an injured hamstring, and isn't projected to return until July 13th. It's not that I don't think he should be allowed to swing, I just think it's a horrible idea. I know he's been taking some batting practice, but he's not swinging in BP like he will be in the derby. I'm not concerned that he'll aggravate the hamstring, I'm worried he'll totally screw his swing up for the rest of the year. Kemp already has a sweet swing, he drives the ball to the opposite field and center. I would hate for him to try and pull the ball during the derby and mess up his swing.
Secondly, if you're a fan of the teams being represented by these guys, are you happy about it? We all know what has happened in the past to winners of the derby. On average, the past 10 winners of the Home Run Derby have seen their dip following the All-Star break. That's hardly a coincidence. If you're a fan of a team who has playoff potential, do you want to see your guy in the derby, and if you do, are you concerned his numbers will drop in the 2nd half of the season?
But that's not the point of this blog. There are actually a couple of points I'd like to discuss. One, I hate the idea of Kemp participating, and two, would you want the star slugger of your team to take part in the derby?
First off, Kemp is on the DL right now. It's the second time this season he's missed time with an injured hamstring, and isn't projected to return until July 13th. It's not that I don't think he should be allowed to swing, I just think it's a horrible idea. I know he's been taking some batting practice, but he's not swinging in BP like he will be in the derby. I'm not concerned that he'll aggravate the hamstring, I'm worried he'll totally screw his swing up for the rest of the year. Kemp already has a sweet swing, he drives the ball to the opposite field and center. I would hate for him to try and pull the ball during the derby and mess up his swing.
Secondly, if you're a fan of the teams being represented by these guys, are you happy about it? We all know what has happened in the past to winners of the derby. On average, the past 10 winners of the Home Run Derby have seen their dip following the All-Star break. That's hardly a coincidence. If you're a fan of a team who has playoff potential, do you want to see your guy in the derby, and if you do, are you concerned his numbers will drop in the 2nd half of the season?
Also, you may have noticed that I posted this over at ViceHood.com too. So I apologize if you're reading this twice, but they were
nice enough to allow me to continue to post on my personal blog as well. So I'm going to do just that. I won't be posting everything on both sites, but it will happen on a semi-regular basis.
UPDATE-Giancarlo Stanton has been replaced with Andrew McCutchen. I still think the AL wins the thing with Bautista being the champion.
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UPDATE-Giancarlo Stanton has been replaced with Andrew McCutchen. I still think the AL wins the thing with Bautista being the champion.
Follow me on Twitter-
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