Monday, July 14, 2014

Reminder: The Home Run Derby Got Face Lift This Season


It has been 10 seasons since the MLB Home Run Derby has changed but this year it will, hopefully for the better. Instead of eight batters participating we will have the field expanded to 10 and they will be separated into two brackets by league. Batters will only have seven outs to work with instead of 10, which I don't agree with in case you were wondering.

The new rules will create more head to head matchups and less free for all type scenarios. The player with the most home runs in the first round will get a bye for Round 2. That puts a ton of incentive on getting the most home runs and really allows players to sit back and relax if they have no shot at making it in first place but know they are advancing. For example Yoenis Cespedes hit 17 home runs in the first round last year and would have the second round to rest. The rest of the field knew they weren't going to match that so after they hit 7-8 they could take their feet off the throttle a little.

It remains to be seen whether more players, less outs, second round byes, and head to head matchups will improve something I already thought was great but I am open minded and excited about the new rules.

2 comments:

  1. While the Home Run Derby isn't nearly as down as the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, I like that they are trying to spice it up before it does get that far down.

    Seeing as how the biggest criticism of baseball is how long it takes, taking away outs and speeding things up may be a good thing.

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  2. Took away outs but added two more players.... I understand it's still 80 outs under the old rules and 70 with the new rules but still. I guess they make up time in the later rounds I guess we'll just have to see.

    My problem is it brings back a problem we used to have that was fixed the last time we changed the rules. Let's just play devils advocate and say the top three home run hitters are Stanton, Puig, and Frazier... only one of them goes on to face the fourth best home run total from the AL.

    The old derby was broken because this is a home run hitting contest and the two highest totals may not go to the finals if they are in the same league.

    here's a better one, let's say every NL guy hits over 10 in the first round and every AL guy hits under 5.... who wants to watch that?

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