How did Renfroe get left out of the Home Run Derby?

[Tbonewannabe]

So Yelich dropped out due to injury or something so he was replaced by A's 3rd baseman Bell. Renfroe has less at bats than pretty much everyone in the derby except maybe Guerro but has more homeruns than everyone except Alonso. He also has one of the highest HR to at bat ratios in MLB. He also has a lot of 400 foot homers. Why in the world is he not in it?

[ScoobaDawg]

screw it. good for him. Derby can screw up your swing. let him keep grooving

[Leroy Jenkins]

Why in the world is he not in it?

Because he cant hit the breaking ball.*

[dawgs]

Because the HR derby isn't about who has the most HRs. Maybe MLB approaches Renfroe and he wasn't interested so they moved on down the list. Clearly the derby is also intended to promote young guys that are the future of the sport, like vlad jr. that's not saying Renfroe can't be a good or even great player, but he's not vlad jr, josh bell, Alonso, Bregman, or acuna from a pure talent or a marketability perspective. Santana is only in there because it's fun to give the home crowd someone to get behind. Sure, could argue Renfroe ahead of pederson or Chapman, but again, he might not have been interested, maybe he had already had plans and didn't want to change them for just the derby since he's not on the NL roster.

Also, A's 3B is Matt Chapman, josh bell is the pirate's 1B and anyone with a problem with bell being in the HR derby should probably check the numbers again.

[msstate7]

Because the HR derby isn't about who has the most HRs. Maybe MLB approaches Renfroe and he wasn't interested so they moved on down the list. Also, A's 3B is Matt Chapman, josh bell is the pirate's 1B and anyone with a problem with bell being in the HR derby should probably check the numbers again.

Bell belongs. Vlad jr probably doesn't

[dawgs]

Bell belongs. Vlad jr probably doesn't

Eh, baseball needs to market young talent and vlad jr is not only a badass young talent but also the son of a Hall of Fame player who played well into the early 2010s, so even younger baseball fans remember his playing days.

It's just marketing and baseball is playing catch-up when it comes to expanding the marketing profile of their best players beyond the baseball universe and into the general sports universe and even broader into the general pop culture universe. NBA understands this and probably has 20-30 players that are more recognizable to the general public than any baseball player.

[msstate7]

Eh, baseball needs to market young talent and vlad jr is not only a badass young talent but also the son of a Hall of Fame player who played well into the early 2010s, so even younger baseball fans remember his playing days.

It's just marketing and baseball is playing catch-up when it comes to expanding the marketing profile of their best players beyond the baseball universe and into the general sports universe and even broader into the general pop culture universe. NBA understands this and probably has 20-30 players that are more recognizable to the general public than any baseball player.

Just saying if you're going by merit, .741 ops and .164 iso

[StarkVegasSteve]

screw it. good for him. Derby can screw up your swing. let him keep grooving

I agree with this take. Most derby participants struggle after the Derby and it can be tough to break out of. It'd no doubt be cool to see him in the Derby, but not at the cost of the season he's currently having.

[Tbonewannabe]

Because the HR derby isn't about who has the most HRs. Maybe MLB approaches Renfroe and he wasn't interested so they moved on down the list. Clearly the derby is also intended to promote young guys that are the future of the sport, like vlad jr. that's not saying Renfroe can't be a good or even great player, but he's not vlad jr, josh bell, Alonso, Bregman, or acuna from a pure talent or a marketability perspective. Santana is only in there because it's fun to give the home crowd someone to get behind. Sure, could argue Renfroe ahead of pederson or Chapman, but again, he might not have been interested, maybe he had already had plans and didn't want to change them for just the derby since he's not on the NL roster.

Also, A's 3B is Matt Chapman, josh bell is the pirate's 1B and anyone with a problem with bell being in the HR derby should probably check the numbers again.

Yeah, I meant Chapman and had a brain fart while typing.

[dawgs]

I agree with this take. Most derby participants struggle after the Derby and it can be tough to break out of. It'd no doubt be cool to see him in the Derby, but not at the cost of the season he's currently having.

https://sabr.org/research/home-run-derby-curse-fact-or-fiction

[Lord McBuckethead]

Because the HR derby isn't about who has the most HRs. Maybe MLB approaches Renfroe and he wasn't interested so they moved on down the list. Clearly the derby is also intended to promote young guys that are the future of the sport, like vlad jr. that's not saying Renfroe can't be a good or even great player, but he's not vlad jr, josh bell, Alonso, Bregman, or acuna from a pure talent or a marketability perspective. Santana is only in there because it's fun to give the home crowd someone to get behind. Sure, could argue Renfroe ahead of pederson or Chapman, but again, he might not have been interested, maybe he had already had plans and didn't want to change them for just the derby since he's not on the NL roster.

Also, A's 3B is Matt Chapman, josh bell is the pirate's 1B and anyone with a problem with bell being in the HR derby should probably check the numbers again.

He would be if he won the HR derby by 10 hrs.

[DancingRabbit]

screw it. good for him. Derby can screw up your swing. let him keep grooving

Yeah, I would have sworn that it screwed up Josh Hamilton for the 2nd half of 2008.

But maybe that's just perception. Old wives tale, if you will.

Just found this while poking around-

Josh Hamilton put on a scintillating performance in the first round, launching 28 dingers deep into the New York night. Hamilton would actually hit more total homers than Morneau, but the Canadian slugger would edge Hamilton in the finals. After hitting 21 homers pre-Derby, Hamilton would slow down the rest of the season, hitting 11 homers to finish out the season.

While Hamilton taking a lot of swings in the Derby may be considered as a reason for his decline, he has hit 44 more homeruns (122) in his career during the first half of seasons versus the second half (78). If there has been anything that has contributed to Hamilton?s decline, it has been recurring injuries and an inability to get back on the field.

[MaroonFlounder]

Bell belongs. Vlad jr probably doesn't

Vlad Jr prolly gonna win it

[msstate7]

Vlad Jr prolly gonna win it

Yep. He's a tremendous talent; but I stand by saying if on-field results earn a trip here, he probably shouldn't be participating tonight

[Cooterpoot]

HR derby is still not right. Vlad hits 91 HRs and loses to a guy that didn’t hit half that.

[Dallas_Dawg]

Yep. He's a tremendous talent; but I stand by saying if on-field results earn a trip here, he probably shouldn't be participating tonight

Turns out he's the best HR derby participant ever.
Remember, Morneau won it the year Hamilton set the now old record.

[MaroonFlounder]

HR derby is still not right. Vlad hits 91 HRs and loses to a guy that didn’t hit half that.

I'm a NL guy. Glad Alonso won it. The hapless Mets need something to be excited about.

[dawgs]

Glad they included vlad jr, made the night worthwhile.

[dantheman4248]

HR derby is still not right. Vlad hits 91 HRs and loses to a guy that didn’t hit half that.

Alonso has bonus time unused in each round and had 18 seconds to go in the final round as well. He hit more HRs in the season and was the highest seed (since Yelich dropped out). Vlad got put into a swing off as well which further inflated his total. His first round was magnificent but it’s a tournament. Winning the first two rounds with gigantic numbers doesn’t give you the automatic win in the end.