I nominate Daniel Vogelbach, who looks the part and plays the part. It’s not a ratings bonanza, but it’s definitely charming as all heck, and now that Kyle Schwarber is skinny and turning into Alex Gordon, we have to audition new large lords. Put another camera on Nelson Cruz making Robert DeNiro faces. Put one camera on Vogelbach hitting dingers. 11 on the Top 30: /8aRoLr4aM9- MLB Pipeline April 15, 2018 Sometimes it needs a Spud Webb.Ī night after his first homer, Daniel Vogelbach sends one OVER the "Hit It Here" sign in SeattleĤ33 feet for No. The Derby doesn’t always need the dinger monster du jour. Leave me alone, Cheers is on.īut you get the idea. Nobody used wired in regular conversation until the meme. Wired: Why wouldn’t you use “inspired” instead of “wired?” It was right there. Inspired: Short guys hitting home runs at will. Tired: Big, beefy baseball boys hitting home runs at will. Like the Home Run Derby is an institution you need to protect, you idiot. Back me up on this.Ī pitcher in the Derby would be a gimmick, something that’s included only for curiosity’s sake. He’s hit as many home runs in his last 7 at-bats as Chris Getz hit in his 1,409 at-bats. Lorenzen is the new hero, and we should respect this. But he doesn’t even have a hit this year, and he had just one homer after coming back from his dirt bike escapades last year. In previous seasons, this slot would have been reserved for Madison Bumgarner. But we should allow pitchers to be embarrassed. If this starts to embarrass the pitchers, we can revisit the idea. There should be at least one pitcher in every Home Run Derby. He’s a hometown hero who happens to be good at hitting home runs, and those are a staple of the Home Run Derby. He also happens to hit dingers with élan and tremendous zeal. The most popular and successful player in the history of the franchise is Bryce Harper. Not everything needs to be clever or overthought. It’s not going to be easy, considering the absence of Judge, Stanton, and Ohtani, but we can do our best. Unless we come up with eight participants who can make the Home Run Derby as fun and eagerly anticipated as last year. And because of this, it’s almost certain that the Home Run Derby won’t have the same gravitas and expectations it had last year. Ohtani is active but unlikely to do anything that puts additional stress on his body, which, ugh, fine, I guess that makes sense. Judge and Stanton were gracious enough to fill our imaginations last year, but they’re not doing the Derby this year. Unfortunately, despite my frequent letters and phone calls, this is unlikely to happen. We would decline their pleas, but bring them a stool to sit on while more pitches are thrown. Let’s be honest from the very beginning: The 2018 MLB Home Run Derby should be Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Shohei Ohtani hitting home runs until they all collapse, pleading in front of a national audience to be released from their dinger prison.