Yoenis Cepesdes had a shaky first round and was nearly eliminated from the 2014 Home Run Derby, but the Oakland Athletics outfielder pulled it together and defeated Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier to become the first back-to-back derby champion in 15 years.
After a one-hour rain delay, the 2014 Home Run Derby got off to a slow start. Aside from Jose Baustista's ten home runs and Giancarlo Stanton's six in the first round, nobody else stood out. Yasiel Puig put up a goose egg and Minnesota-favorites Brian Dozier and Justin Morneau only hit two apiece. Even Cespedes didn't impress. He only hit three in the first round and narrowly advanced to the second round after winning a swing-off against Athletics teammate Josh Donaldson.
But after the first round Cespedes seemingly remembered he was the defending champion and turned it up. He defeated Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones in the second round by six homers (he hit nine to beat Jones' three) while averaging nearly 400 feet per home run. New Jersey native Todd Frazier beat Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki six to two in the second round as well. As the third round approached, Cespedes faced a challenge in AL Derby team captain Jose Baustista who seemed to be in a groove after an impressive first round. Frazier went on to face NL slugger Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins.
After Frazier defeated Stanton in a (boring) 1-0 round three effort to advance to the finals, Cespedes batted first in his matchup against Bautista. The Athletics slugger cranked out seven home runs with an average of 403 feet and a long of 447 feet, with a number of them projected to sail over 500 feet if the stadium hadn't gotten in the way. Baustista's four home runs wasn't enough to get him into the finals against Frazier, and Cespedes was only one matchup away from claiming the trophy.
The final round batting order was to be decided by a coin flip. Frazier won the toss and elected for Cespedes to go first in hopes of putting pressure on him, but his plan backfired. The defending champ ripped a total of nine home runs, with five in his first eight swings. The final round was Cespedes' best, as he averaged 409 feet per homer and a long of 452 feet.
"I'm in the cage, and I hear the crowd, and I'm going, 'Well, there goes another one,'" said Frazier, in this ESPN article. "And then, 'Hold on, there's another one.' I could just hear the crowd going crazy. But that's what he does. And he did it last year. And he did it again this year. So he's the champ. That's why he's the champ." Frazier hit one homer in the final round.
Cespedes, with 5/1 odds to win the derby, was only behind Giancarlo Stanton who was the 3/1 favorite. His 30 home run total dwarfed Stanton's six and even Frazier's 11. The next closest slugger was Jose Bautista who recorded 14 total homers. Now, all that's left to ask is, will Cespedes be the first-ever player to three-peat the Home Run Derby?
