Corey Seager on Monday becomes the seventh different Los Angeles Dodgers player to participate in the annual Home Run Derby. Mike Piazza twice represented the Dodgers (1993 and 1994) and so too did Matt Kemp (2011 and 2012).
Neither fared well, with Piazza failing to hit a homer in either of his trips to the Derby, and Kemp hitting two home runs in 2011 and just one the following year. Along with Kemp and Piazza, the Dodgers have sent Raul Mondesi, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig and Hee-Seop Choi to the Derby.
Puig represented some hope there’d be a break in the mold in 2014 but put up a donut at Target Field in Minnesota. Pederson changed the Dodgers’ fortunes last year as he advanced to the final round under the new Home Run Derby format.
The young center fielder defeated Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles in the first round (13-12), then edged Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (12-11) to advance to the final round.
Pederson squared off against Todd Frazier, who was with the Cincinnati Reds at that point, and came up just short (15-14) to the then-hometown hero. Prior to Pederson’s performance, Choi had the best showing for the Dodgers, hitting five homers in the 2005 Home Run Derby.
However, all that earned him was a fifth-place finish under the old format. Mondesi hit two home runs in 1995 and didn’t get out of the first round. Further adding to the odds stacked against Seager at Petco Park is he squares off against Baltimore’s Mark Trumbo in the first round.
While Seager leads the Dodgers with 17 home runs, Trumbo is first in the Majors with 28 home runs. Should Seager manage advance to the second round, he’ll face the winner of the Frazier and Carlos Gonzalez matchup.
