Los Angeles Dodgers rookie shortstop Corey Seager was officially named a participant for the 2016 Home Run Derby as the eight seed. He’s pitted against Baltimore Orioles slugger Mark Trumbo in a first-round matchup.
The full list of Home Run Derby participants includes: defending champion Todd Frazier of the Chicago White Sox, Seattle’s Robinson Cano, Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton, Cincinnati’s Adam Duvall, San Diego’s Wil Myers and Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez.
Frazier defeated Dodgers center Joc Pederson, then a rookie, in the 2015 Home Run Derby in front of his then-home crowd at Great American Ball Park.
Pederson’s performance ended a string of poor performances from Dodgers who participated in the annual derby. Prior to last year, Hee-Seop Choi led the franchise with five home runs in 2005, which was good for a fifth-place finish.
Yasiel Puig represented a beacon of hope in 2014, but put forth a donut at Target Field in Minnesota. Seager faces an uphill battle in Trumbo, who’s the No. 1 seed and leads the Majors with 26 home runs.
Trumbo’s only other All-Star appearance came in 2012 when Trumbo also took part in that year’s Derby at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
He hit 13 home runs and advanced to second round, losing in a “swing-off” to Jose Bautista for a spot in the finals. Seager leads the Dodgers with 17 home runs and enters play on Thursday with a 19-game hitting streak.
Although there’s concern amongst the Dodgers fan base over the negative impact taking part in the event will have on his swing, Seager dismissed the notion. So too did Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
Cano (No. 4) and Stanton (No. 5) are the bottom bracket, with the winner advancing to face the victor between Seager and Trumbo. Duvall (No. 3) will face this year’s hometown hero Myers (No. 6) on the other side, with Frazier (No. 2) and Gonzalez (No. 7) rounding out that side of the bracket.
Myers has hit 13 of his 19 home runs this season at Petco Park. Frazier is tied for third in the Majors with 23 home runs, Duvall is tied for fifth overall with 22 homers, Cano ranks 11th with 20 home runs, Myers and Stanton are tied for 16th, and Gonzalez is tied for 24th with 18 homers.
The Home Run Derby is set for Monday at 5 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live by ESPN. The single-elimination and timed rounds format that was introduced last year remains in place.
Batters have four minutes in each round and has two 45-second time outs; hitters have two 45-second timeouts in the finals. Thirty seconds of bonus time will be awarded for two home runs that at hit at least 440 feet, and ties will be broken in a 60-second swing-off.
