New York Mets third baseman David Wright and New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano are the captains for their respective Homerun Derby teams –Wright for the National League and Cano for the American League. Each player was supposed to pick three other individuals from their league to compete with them in the derby. Today they revealed their picks on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight.
David Wright’s Team:
Himself—.306 BA, 13 HR and 43 RBIs
Carlos Gonzalez, Left fielder for the Colorado Rockies—.304 BA, 24 HR and 63 RBIs
Michael Cuddyer, Right fielder for the Colorado Rockies—.337 BA, 15 HR and 52 RBIs
Bryce Harper, Right fielder for the Washington Nationals—.273 BA, 13 HR and 29 RBIs (Harper was injured and has only played in 52 games this season.)
Robinson Cano’s Team:
Himself—.295 BA, 20 HR and 58 RBIs
Prince Fielder, First baseman for the Detroit Tigers—.265 BA, 15 HR and 66 RBIs
Chris Davis, First baseman for the Chris Davis —.319 BA, 33 HR and 85 RBIs
*Cano said he will choose his final team member tomorrow.
So far it seems, the National League is at a disadvantage (especially since Robinson Cano’s last pick could be Detroit Tigers’ third baseman Miguel Cabrera—.367 BA, 28 HR and 90 RBIs.)
Fielder and Davis are natural homerun hitters and their homeruns are usually 450 foot-plus bombs. Robinson Cano is a pure hitter but he already has a HR Derby title under his belt.
Wright and Cuddyer are also closer to pure hitters, although they both have HR power. It seems the National League may have to depend on Gonzalez and Harper. Gonzalez has a beautiful swing which takes balls out of the park easily. Harper’s swing has sort of a catapult motion in which he cocks back and then lets the bat demolish the ball into the stands.
The HR Derby will air July 15 on ESPN at 8 p.m.
*Stats accoriding to ESPN.com
