Albert Pujols confirms he’ll take part in 2015 Home Run Derby
The way he’s been swinging the bat the last few weeks, it’s only right that Albert Pujols is going to participate in the Home Run Derby next Monday in Cincinnati.
He hit his AL-leading 26th home run of the season Tuesday night and since the start of June Pujols has knocked 15 balls out of the park.
The Los Angeles Angels slugger said he would take part in MLB’s annual power showcase if he was elected to the All-Star game. Pujols was named to the AL squad as a reserve Monday and is actually going to start at first base, replacing the injured Miguel Cabrera. It will be the fourth time he competes in the event but he has never been crowned Derby champion, having reached the semifinal in 2003, 2007 and 2009.
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This year’s Derby is going to look quite different than in the past, with the league administering a few significant changes that haven’t been all that well received. Count Pujols among the small group willing to give the new format a chance.
”If anything it’ll be better because you don’t have to sit around so much like you did in the past,” he said. ”If I hit in the first round we had to wait until everybody hit and sometimes you sat an hour and a half, two hours.”
With Bryce Harper sitting this one out, Giancarlo Stanton out with an injury and Mike Trout leaning toward joining Harper on the sidelines, the Derby won’t feature at least three of baseball’s young and marketable stars.
Even at 35, getting Pujols in the lineup, one of his generation’s biggest and most accomplished stars, is a good start to putting together a strong and competitive field that fans will want to watch.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
