Welcome to our community

Be apart of something great, join today!

The HR Derby

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

goobmcnasty

Active member
Apr 4, 2014
1,583
13
I was actually disappointed in the lineups for the Derby. It didn't feel like there were any *true* mashers (Judge, Stanton from the past), but I gave it a shot. Glad I did. That Round 2 was exciting.
 

death2redemptions

New member
Feb 4, 2016
12,488
0
The Carolina on the Southern side
I was actually disappointed in the lineups for the Derby. It didn't feel like there were any *true* mashers (Judge, Stanton from the past), but I gave it a shot. Glad I did. That Round 2 was exciting.

Guerrero (assuming his raw power translates into game power), Acuna & Alonso will be the next round of true mashers to come. Too early to tell if any will have that elite 50+ HR power that Judge & Stanton have (when healthy) but 40+ home runs shouldn't be a problem for any of them. Judge & Stanton didn't hit 50 home runs until their age 25 & age 27 seasons. Acuna & Guerrero already have this capability at 20-21 years old which is nuts! Alonso is 24 but he's already on pace for 45-50 long balls this season.
 

goobmcnasty

Active member
Apr 4, 2014
1,583
13
Just to clarify, I was disappointed in the lineups **before the derby**. I've seen the stats, but never got a chance to see Vlad, Acuna and Alonso actually swing the bat. It was a lot of fun.
 

Pjere

Member
Jun 2, 2019
59
15
Kind of stinks that Alonso won after that display by Vlad IMO. Can’t believe they paid them a million bucks to win it this year either- crazy! Also I remember one of announcers talking about the whole “wait until the ball lands before pitching the next ball rule” being ignored. No wonder they blew the years’ previous numbers outta the park (pun intended:)!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

death2redemptions

New member
Feb 4, 2016
12,488
0
The Carolina on the Southern side
Just to clarify, I was disappointed in the lineups **before the derby**. I've seen the stats, but never got a chance to see Vlad, Acuna and Alonso actually swing the bat. It was a lot of fun.

Gotcha! ;)

This was really my first chance at seeing what sort of power Vlad had in his at-bat and he did not disappoint! I've watched him in some minor league games and seen a highlight or two in the majors but I was not expecting that sort of display either.
 

MrMet

Well-known member
Apr 6, 2010
13,556
612
The Poconos
Gotcha! ;)

This was really my first chance at seeing what sort of power Vlad had in his at-bat and he did not disappoint! I've watched him in some minor league games and seen a highlight or two in the majors but I was not expecting that sort of display either.

I couldn’t believe he didn’t throw out his shoulder and/or swing out of his shoes, that dude is nuts


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

death2redemptions

New member
Feb 4, 2016
12,488
0
The Carolina on the Southern side
I couldn’t believe he didn’t throw out his shoulder and/or swing out of his shoes, that dude is nuts


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

Seriously, his physique and the angle of his power swing reminded me a lot of Prince Fielder early in his career. Those were some towering home runs that left in a hurry.

Only drawback was that he pulled everything....every ball went to left field. Would like to have seen if he had any opposite field power. I haven't watched much of him this year but if he's always trying to pull the ball like that for home runs it may explain why that tremendous raw power has yet to translate into game power (and why he's hitting under .250). It's still very, very early in his career and I'm sure he'll figure it out sooner or later. They can't all be Ronald Acuna, Gleyber Torres & Juan Soto's who make instant impacts the moment they are called up while not even old enough to drink.

But forget about all that, he nearly single-handedly made this the most exciting home run derby to date....with the help of a couple other young studs of course (I speak of Alonso & Acuna)
 

MrMet

Well-known member
Apr 6, 2010
13,556
612
The Poconos
Only drawback was that he pulled everything....every ball went to left field. Would like to have seen if he had any opposite field power.

I think that was a strategy for the field in Cleveland...I think it was the Astros players they interviewed before Bregman’s at bats that said they advised him to hit it to left. Must be something with the Cleveland park dimensions


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

MrMet

Well-known member
Apr 6, 2010
13,556
612
The Poconos
Give Joc his due. The Vlad Jr show was only so exciting because Joc made him keep going back up to bat.

I told people who didn’t watch it, even if you don’t watch a rerun of the whole thing, just watch the Vlad vs Joc matchup, it was amazing. And I think it wore down Vlad enough which was the reason that Pete was able to win.


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

death2redemptions

New member
Feb 4, 2016
12,488
0
The Carolina on the Southern side
Give Joc his due. The Vlad Jr show was only so exciting because Joc made him keep going back up to bat.

Oh yeah, he made it especially exciting. I was just going on about the young kids so forgot to bring him up.

I think that was a strategy for the field in Cleveland...I think it was the Astros players they interviewed before Bregman’s at bats that said they advised him to hit it to left. Must be something with the Cleveland park dimensions


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

Before the game it was brought up that the 19 ft. wall in left field was actually a disadvantage for right handed batters which is why Josh Bell had really high odds of beating Acuna and advancing to the final round. I guess they didn't factor into account that Acuna can hit it outta the park anywhere.

Turns out that 19 ft wall was child's play for guys like Alonso and Vladimir.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest posts

Top