Major League Baseball officially announced the eight hitters who will be participating in the 2022 Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium, which is set for Monday, July 18, as part of All-Star Week Los Angeles.
Although no Los Angeles Dodgers are participating at their home stadium, former Dodger and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols is be representing the St. Louis Cardinals in the Derby.
Joining Pujols are the Washington Nationals’ Juan Soto, Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Guardians superstar José Ramírez, Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber, the Seattle Mariners rookie phenom Julio Rodríguez, New York Mets power hitter Pete Alonso, and and Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager.
Seager was the final addition to the Home Run Derby field, and his inclusion came shortly after he was named to the All-Star Game as an injury replacement for Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer.
#HRDerby bracket is officially set with Corey Seager completing the field. pic.twitter.com/2zwAvEbrJi
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) July 14, 2022
Of all the participants, Schwarber leads the way with 28 home runs this season, which is most in the National League and places him second in MLB behind Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. The 29-year-old is also second among all participants in career home runs with 181.
Alonso comes in next with 23 homers and he has already proven he’s built to win the competition. Alonso has won the previous two Home Run Derbies — which were held in 2019 in Cleveland and 2021 in Colorado — and he put on a show last season with a record 35 homers in the first round.
Following the top two hitters who have reached the 20-home run mark this season, Soto checks in with 19, which is followed by Ramírez with 17, Rodríguez with 15, Acuña with eight (he didn’t make his season debut until April 28), and Pujols with six.
Although Pujols only has six this season, the 42-year-old’s 685 career home run total is not very far off from the combined total of the rest of the participants, who have hit 733 as a group.
Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner declined to participate in Home Run Derby
Freddie Freeman was a surprising snub when MLB announced the complete rosters for the 2022 All-Star Game, but it’s possible he’ll eventually get named as an injury replacement.
Although Freeman could have had the opportunity to represent the Dodgers in the Home Run Derby,he declined an invitation to participate. However, he didn’t rule out competing in future events.
Freeman was among the participants in the 2018 Home Run Derby and lost in the first round to eventual champion Bryce Harper.
Trea Turner also rejected a potential opportunity to take part in this year’s Home Run Derby and made it sound like he has no interest in ever competing in the event.
“Yeah right. I would put up like one or two homers, maybe,” Turner answered when asked if he had interest in participating.
“I haven’t hit BP all year for a reason, because I don’t hit it very well. So yeah, definitely not. But I would love to see one of these guys in here do it. “I know Max (Muncy) has done in the past. Maybe Will Smith. I don’t know.
“There’s quite a few guys that could do it in here, but no, definitely not me.”
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