Already selected to the National League roster for the All-Star Game, Cody Bellinger was officially named a participant for the 2017 Home Run Derby in Miami. He becomes the fourth consecutive Los Angeles Dodgers rookie to take part in the annual slugging contest.
Bellinger’s decision had long been anticipated, and whether or not the 21-year-old would participate hinged on if his father, Clay, was going to be able to step away from being a firefighter in Arizona in order to throw to Bellinger.
After days of fielding the same question, a note was recently left at Bellinger’s locker to address his unconfirmed status.
Marlins right fielder and defending Home Run Derby champion Giancarlo Stanton was the first confirmed participant.
In addition to Bellinger and Stanton, the field includes Colorado Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon, Kansas City third baseman Mike Moustakas, Marlins first baseman Justin Bour, Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sano, and New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge and catcher Gary Sanchez.
In recent years the Dodgers have been represented in the Derby by Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson and Corey Seager. Puig failed to hit a homer in 2014, Pederson lost in the final round to Todd Frazier in 2015, and Seager was eliminated last year in the first round by Mark Trumbo despite an impressive showing.
Only Pederson and Seager participated under the revamped format that Bellinger will be part of. He’s launched an assault on Dodgers and MLB records since making his MLB debut April 25.
By recently putting together a sixth multi-home run game, Bellinger broke Mike Piazza’s franchise rookie record for most multi-homer games in a single season. By comparison, Seager had four such performances during his 2016 National League Rookie of the Year campaign.
Bellinger’s six multi-home run game within his first career 57 games shattered Mark McGwire’s MLB record (97 games) for fastest to accomplish the feat
What’s more, earlier this season, Bellinger became the fastest player in MLB history to 21 home runs and five multi-homer games.
Bellinger’s 24 home runs are the most by an NL rookie in the first half of a season since 1933, which was the first year the MLB All-Star Game was played. He also has hit the most home runs in the first half of a season by a Dodgers player since Shaw Green slugged 26 in 2002.
Final seeding for the Derby will be determined by home run totals at the All-Star break. ESPN will exclusively televise the 2017 Home Run Derby on Monday, July 10, at 5 p.m. PT. It will be available to be streamed via the ESPN app and simulcast in Spanish-language on ESPN2.
