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Pete Alonso, the Mets slugger, has played all-star home run derby three times in a row against fields including Cardinals Albert Pujols, Phillies slugger, Kyle Schwarber, Braves Ronald Acuña Jr., and Washington Juan. Try to be the first player to win. do.
First baseman in New York said on Monday that he was one of the nine participants in the July 18 tournament at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
“This is a really fun event and will be very exciting,” Alonso said before the Mets played in Atlanta on Monday night. “I have a really good plan to attend it, and I also have a lot of fun. I don’t think anyone is more fun than me, especially when it comes to this event.”
Dave Jaus, a Mets bench coach and now a special assistant to the Washington Nationals, will pitch to Alonso for his second straight title.
“I only need to give two cups of coffee before and one cup of bad light after, but he said he could go,” Alonso said.
Cardinals Albert Pujols joins 2022 Home Run Derby, fifth in his career
Alonso hit a total of 74 home runs in Denver’s Coors Field derby last year, beating Baltimore’s Trey Mancini 23-22 in the final round. Alonso joined Ken Griffey Jr. (1998-99) and Yoenis Cespedes (2013-14) to win consecutive titles. Griffy also won in 1994 and is the only three-time champion.
Pujols will participate in the fifth Derby after a shortage in 2003, 2007, 2009 and 2015. He and Miguel Cabrera of Detroit have been added to the All-Stars list as a special selection by Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Pujols makes his 11th All-Star appearance and joins Derby in one of his former homes. He played 85 games with the Dodgers last season after being cut by the Los Angeles Angels and signed with St. Louis before this season. He said this would be his last.
42-year-old Pujols has five home runs this season and 684 home runs in his career, making him fifth on the career list.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to go back to the All-Star game and join Homelanderby. That’s what I enjoy so much and my kids are very excited,” Pujols said on Monday night. Told. “Hopefully I can have a good show for them, because after all, it’s not about us, it’s about doing a good show for our fans.”
Schwarber posted a home run highlight reel on his Instagram page on Tuesday, and Phillies later confirmed that their only All-Star representative would join Derby. Schwarber hit 28 home runs in his first season with the Phillies.
Pete Alonso wins second straight home run derby crown
Atlanta outfielder Acuña will be competing in his second home run derby. Acuña lost to Alonso in 2019 and extended his career with 41 home runs.
Acuña is not one of the seven Atlanta players with more than 10 home runs, but he will play in Derby.
Acuña hits .274 with eight home runs. He missed 19 games at the beginning of the season as he continued to recover from his right knee reconstruction surgery.
Acuña was the leader of the NL in the All-Star vote.
Soto will be participating in Derby for the second consecutive year. He hit the longest home run in last year’s tournament at 520 feet. This is the longest derby drive of the Statcast era. He finished two tiebreakers in the first round, defeating Shohei Ohtani 31-28 and losing to Alonso 16-15 in the second round.
Soto hit .243 with 17 home runs this season.
Joey Gallo, Matt Olson, Salvador Perez and Trevor Story also participated last year.
There was no derby in 2020 when the all-star game scheduled at Dodger Stadium was canceled due to a coronavirus pandemic.
MLB Homerun Derby fan falls in Coors Field and is about to catch
Alonso won the 2019 Derby as a rookie in Cleveland and defeated Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 23-22 in the final round. Guerrero, whose father won the event in 2007, hit a total of 91 home runs but was tired in the final round.