Monday night in San Diego, eight of baseball's top power hitters will take their hacks in the 2016 Home Run Derby at Petco Park. Under the new rules, players face off head-to-head and race against the clock. It's pretty awesome.
Here are the first round matchups. The players were seeded based on their season home run totals as of Wednesday, July 6. Here are their current homer totals:
No. 1 Mark Trumbo (28) vs. No. 8 Corey Seager (17)
No. 2 Todd Frazier (25) vs. No. 7 Carlos Gonzalez (18)
No. 3 Adam Duvall (23) vs. No. 6 Wil Myers (19)
No. 4 Robinson Cano (20) vs. No. 5 Giancarlo Stanton (19)
As always, the oddsmakers have chimed in with the betting odds for each of the eight Home Run Derby participants. Here are their odds, via Bovada:
Stanton: +350
Trumbo: +375
Myers: +550
Frazier: +600
Duvall: +600
Cano: +800
Gonzalez: +800
Seager: +900
For those for unfamiliar with betting lines, Stanton's +350 means you have to bet $100 to win $350. He's the favorite by a relatively small margin over Trumbo. Seager is the long shot.
I don't know about you, but Cano at +800 seems like a mighty fine bet to me. The Home Run Derby is an endurance test as much as it is a "hit the ball far" test. Cano is as well-conditioned as any player in the game, and he developed his power stroke by taking extra batting practice for years while with the Yankees. He can stand there and take his hacks all day.
