The day before the all-star game is normally filled with hoopla and festivities. One of the annual festivities is the home run derby. There has been a Dodger in the home run derby for three consecutive seasons, but to this point no Dodger has ever won one. Although Joc Pederson came closest to winning in 2015. Dodger’s rookie shortstop Corey Seager will be competing in this season’s home run derby. Hopefully it doesn’t mess up his swing like everyone thought it did to Joc Pederson.
Currently there have been 7 Dodgers that have participated in 8 home run derbys. The Dodgers have hit a collective 49 home runs in the home run derby since 1993. Only two Dodgers have participated in multiple home run derbys’, (Mike Piazza, Matt Kemp) and two Dodgers have been shutout (Piazza, Yasiel Puig) without hitting a single long ball. Here is a list of all seven Dodgers that have played in the home run derby and how many home runs they have hit.
1993 Mike Piazza 0 HR
1994 Mike Piazza 0 HR
1995 Raul Mondesi 2 HR
2005 Hee-Seop Choi 5 HR
2011 Matt Kemp 2 HR
2012 Matt Kemp 1 HR
2014 Yasiel Puig 0 HR
2015 Joc Pederson 39 HR (finished second)
Joc Pederson was the closest to winning after he hit 39 dingers and finished second to Todd Frazier in 2015’s contest. Mike Piazza may have been shutout twice, but he hit a mammoth home run in the all-star game in 1996 winning MVP honors. I guess you could say he saved it for when it counted.
This season Corey Seager will be competing against Baltimore’s Mark Trumbo in the quarterfinal round. Defending champ Todd Frazier is back again. He’ll draw Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies. The other match-ups will have Robinson Cano of the Mariners battling Giancarlo Stanton. Adam Duvall of the Reds will take on Wil Myers of the Padres.
If the home run derby did mess up Joc’s second half swing the numbers would kind of support this. Joc hit 20 home runs in the first half and just 6 home runs in the second half. His average dropped from .230 in the first half to .178 in the second half. His OPS dropped over .200 points as well. The home run derby theory could just be a coincidence but it’s worth considering. Let’s pray that this doesn’t screw with Seager’s swing either. It’s probably just an urban legend. Why take a chance though? That’s what I think at least.
The 2016 home run derby at Petco Park begins at 5 pm and will be televised on ESPN.
Go Seager!
Joc’s average started dropping from .298 in March/April for the rest of the season. I don’t think the HR Derby had anything to do with really. Just simply a matter of the pitchers adjusting to him and he was unable to readjust to them. Whether it was a matter of couldn’t or wouldn’t, the only one who really knows is him and maybe his hitting coach.
The Home Run Derby surely didn’t help, as Joc’s ego was distended to a point he never caught up with it. Good hitters make adjustments. Joc is, to date, not a good hitter. Now he’s injured. My instinct says forget him, but it’s possible this injury might force the change he wasn’t able to implement on his own.
Joc never hit above 200, after May first.
Joc should have easily won that HR derby last year.
Fraizer was allowed to rest, in between at least two different match ups.
Joc wasn’t given any time to rest, in between any matches, so it wasn’t really fair.
And this year they are giving extra minutes, on HRs, hit really far.
And I think Joc hit the longest HRs, on a average more then anyone there last year.
MJ:
It may be a good idea to research a little bit before you make statements like that. If he never hit over .200 after May 1st as you said, how did he end up with a .210 BA? The fact is: May-.236; June-222.
Richie
I got that from a Dodger writer.
And that is not wrong Richie.
You have to remember Joc had a 298 average in the first month of the season.
But if you notice with your month of May and June, his average kept on going down.
So his final average is an average of what he hit each month, and that was averaged out.
The reason he ended up hitting 210, was only because he hit 298 in the first month of the season.
Richie add up five months of batting 200, just to make it easier, instead of a number below 200.
That adds up to 1000.
Then add 298 to 1000.
That is 1298.
Then divide 1298 by six.
That equals 216.
And that batting average above, is asumming he at least hit 200, in five months of the season, and I added that one month, that he hit 298.
And Joc’s final batting average was 210.
And I just used 200, to round it off, to make it easier.
So Joc didn’t even hit 200, for five months, of six months of the season.
He hit below 200, for five months of the season, because if he even hit just 200, in those months, and you add the one month he hit 298, he would have had a 216 average, but his final average, only 210!
Then add the 298 to the total your got by adding 200 five times
MJ:
Perhaps what you should have said was that Joc AVERAGED under .200. What you said was “he never hit over .200 after May first”. In fact HE DID HIT over .200 in May and June so saying he hit below .200 for 5 months of the season is totally wrong.
Your math is seriously flawed and if you doubt that ask anyone with a 5th grade knowledge of math. How can you take an arbituary number like 200 and multiply it times 5 months when you don’t even consider the amount of AB and hits for every month to get to that figure??
And Richie don’t make me do easy math this early in the morning for you.
And disregard that paragraph above. I tried to delete it, but it was to late.
Sorry MJ. I didn’t read your other post. I just stopped at the post of yours that caught my attention and felt I had to respond immediately. If I had read your later post I would have deleted my also but like you I was too late in doing so. My bad.
Richie
I told you I got that info from a Dodger writer, that has better saber metric people helping him, then you and I.
I saw your figures in Joc’s splits last year, in the MLB stats, but I later read that May first stat, and that suprised me too.
I just rounded that figure to 200 to make it easier.
And to show that Joc’s batting average, didn’t even average 200 all season long, last year.
I did that because the writer said, that Joc didn’t hit above 200, after May first.
And
You asked me how Joc’s final batting average was at 209, if he didn’t hit over 200 after May first,
remember?
And the only reason that Joc’s final batting average, was 209, was because he hit 298 in the first month of the season.
Corey Seager hits more HR than all the rest of the Dodgers in the HR Derby hit…COMBINED! In fact, he almost doubled them.
I meant to say everyone but Joc.
Mark
Joc was in more rounds then Cory.
I don’t watch, but I am curious about something – the format keeps changing, no doubt to further commercialization. I read one of the show clowns was eating chips and salsa between swings. His own salsa I think. Anyway, I’m wondering with the time element replacing outs, do they get more swings now? I’m assuming they do but I don’t know that. Don’t much care, but thought someone might know.
Badger
They got one time out, in the first rounds.
And Cory didn’t use his, because he thought someone else was calling the time outs.
So Badger the player probably did that, during his time out.
You should watch it next year.
It is 100 percent better, then in the past.
The hitters hit for a prescribed time, and they have a little time out, to get a blow.
It goes much faster, then before, and has a much better format.
Richie
I just read your last post right now, so you will have to forget my last post.
I am glad that this is just over.
Dodgers Digest has their new TOP 30 PROSPECTS:
http://dodgersdigest.com/2016/07/11/2016-dodgers-prospects-midseason-top-30-update/
Quite a few changes since the start of the season, including Micah Johnson and Chris Anderson being gone and Brock Stewart moving to #9!
I like this new ranking from DD. I want to keep Stewart. I think he will be a #2 rotation guy.
The guys I am high on include:
Verdugo, Bellinger, Holmes, Buehler, Stewart, Urias.
The players that have the most potential include:
Alvarez, De Leon, Calhoun. I worry about De Leon’s ability to stay healthy and Alvarez’ ability to gain command, and Calhoun ability to be a plus defender.
Prospects I would not mind being traded:
Montas, De Leon, De Jong, Diaz, Heredia, Johnson, Cotton,.
Players I would not mind being traded:
Grandal, Puig, Kazmir, Hernandez,
My future team thought:
C Lucroy / Barnes
1B Bellinger
2B Taylor
3B Seager
SS Lux
LF Toles or Thompson
CF Pederson
RF Verdugo
Kershaw, Stewart, Urias, Buehler, Holmes
The thing is, Lucroy’s already 30. By the time those minor prospects become settled in the starting lineup, he’s starting to age out.
Sounds good, but pre-supposes that all of the Dodger prospects that you mention pan out – very unlikely
That…and I think there will be some sort of FA signing or two in that lineup. Aside from Kershaw and possibly Lucroy if they resign him after 16, all of those guys are cheap and homegrown.
Dodger patch
Either free agent signings, are some of the pitching prospects, will be traded for young major leauge position players, that the Dodgers need for certain positions, because we have more pitching prospects, then position players.
Mark
Did you write the article in Dodger Digest today?
Mark it says in that article, that Grandal being hurt, has effected his offense.
I haven’t heard that he has been hurt.
And they didn’t say that that was last year.
I used to watch these top prospect lists closely, but then I noticed they change every few weeks. It’s like those ridiculous Power Rankings that show up now and then. Whoever is playing well at the moment gets some pub.
We have maybe 10 legitimate big league starters in our system at any given time. We already have a good idea who they are. The rest of those guys are system depth and trade pieces.
This forum needed shkanig up and you’ve just done that. Great post!