HR Derby

[Isaiah4110]

Alright guys, who do you think wins it all this year? Champ (and runner up) from each league and overall champ?

 

[Isaiah4110]

I'm going to predict Cespedes is tops in the AL with Bautista as the runner up (I want to pick Donaldson but feel like that would be too homer-ish).

I would guess the NL boils down to Stanton and Puig in the semi-final. Tough choice there, but I'm going to say Puig beats Stanton and then loses to Cespedes in the finals in a battle of the Cubans.

Cespedes is the two-time repeat champion.

 

[RaiderZar]

I'm going to predict Cespedes is tops in the AL with Bautista as the runner up (I want to pick Donaldson but feel like that would be too homer-ish).

I would guess the NL boils down to Stanton and Puig in the semi-final. Tough choice there, but I'm going to say Puig beats Stanton and then loses to Cespedes in the finals in a battle of the Cubans.

Cespedes is the two-time repeat champion.

I really hate that we have both these guys in there. There's a reason Scioscia didn't "allow" Trout to be in it. We need to look a the big picture, like the 2nd half of the season. Therefore, I am picking Cespy & JD to tie for dead last & don't care what happens with the others...

 

[Isaiah4110]

Cespedes actually was a bit better after the ASB last year than he was before it. His average was up, SO were down and SLG and OPS were both up as well. Sure he hit fewer HRs, but his AB per HR was actually down (he hit HRs a little more often). Sure some guys have power outages and stat drop offs after playing in the HR Derby, but Cespedes actually has a natural swing for it. Those guys who fall off the map usually make major swing adjustments (bad mechanics) to try to win the Derby. Those adjustments are typically difficult to correct after the fact. Cespedes has enough natural power that he doesn't need to change his natural swing to have success in the HR Derby. That's why he won last year and I'm picking him to win again.

Not so sure about Donaldson, but he has already been struggling a lot lately. Looking like he might be trying too hard for the HR already.

 

[TheRedPlectrum]

I'm going to predict Cespedes is tops in the AL with Bautista as the runner up (I want to pick Donaldson but feel like that would be too homer-ish).

I see what you did there.

 

[CarlSr]

I don't know who will win, but Donaldson's comments to Pedro were pretty cool.

 

[RaiderZar]

Cespedes actually was a bit better after the ASB last year than he was before it. His average was up, SO were down and SLG and OPS were both up as well. Sure he hit fewer HRs, but his AB per HR was actually down (he hit HRs a little more often). Sure some guys have power outages and stat drop offs after playing in the HR Derby, but Cespedes actually has a natural swing for it. Those guys who fall off the map usually make major swing adjustments (bad mechanics) to try to win the Derby. Those adjustments are typically difficult to correct after the fact. Cespedes has enough natural power that he doesn't need to change his natural swing to have success in the HR Derby. That's why he won last year and I'm picking him to win again.

Not so sure about Donaldson, but he has already been struggling a lot lately. Looking like he might be trying too hard for the HR already.

Yeah, going into it, I thought since Cespy has been there, this most likely won't have a negative impact on him. Maybe, it will actually give him more confidence & a sense he's a MLB star. All in all, this worked out pretty well. Congrats to Cespy.