BY SCOTT LAUBERRyan Howard said yesterday that he would compete in the Home Run Derby next Monday night in St. Louis if MLB asked him to.
Well, MLB asked him to.
And Howard, as expected, accepted the invitation. So, it will be Howard, Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez and Prince Fielder -- four slugging first basemen -- competing in the Derby for the NL. No word yet on the AL participants. It will mark the sixth consecutive season in which a Phillies player has competed in the Derby: Jim Thome (2004), Bobby Abreu (2005), Howard (2006, 2007, 2009), Chase Utley (2008). Abreu won in 2005, while Howard won in 2006.
(Updated, 12:30 a.m.): Regarding the comment posted by Anonymous, it should be noted that Howard never has been negatively affected by participating in the Home Run Derby. (Generally speaking, I tend to agree with Jim Leyland, who said this last week about the idea that hitters can mess up their swing by competing in the Derby: "That's the biggest bunch of BS in the history of baseball.") Anyway, check out Howard's splits:
2006
Pre-Derby: .278, 28 HR, 71 RBIs, .923 OPS
Post-Derby: .355, 30 HR, 78 RBIs, 1.259 OPS
2007
Pre-Derby: .256, 21 HR, 67 RBIs, .933 OPS
Post-Derby: .280, 26 HR, 69 RBIs, 1.016 OPS
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If you follow Philled In on Twitter, you already know this, but Raul Ibanez (strained left groin) played five innings in left field for Class AA Reading today and went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. He will play for Class AAA Lehigh Valley tomorrow night, take a day off Wednesday, then play for Lehigh Valley again Thursday. It's possible he could rejoin the Phillies before Friday night's game against the Pirates.
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In the early returns, Shane Victorino ranks second in the All-Star final vote, trailing the Giants' Pablo Sandoval. Victorino said Mayor Michael Nutter went knocking on doors in South Philly today to help campaign for him.
Here's a look at the stats for the final-vote contenders, entering tonight's games:
Shane Victorino (Phillis): .300 AVG, 5 HR, 35 RBI, .447 SLG, .363 OBP
Pablo Sandoval (Giants): .333 AVG, 12 HR, 44 RBI, .566 SLG, .388 OBP
Matt Kemp (Dodgers): .305 AVG, 10 HR, 44 RBI, .474 SLG, .369 OBP
Mark Reynolds (Diamondbacks): .269 AVG, 24 HR, 61 RBI, .568 SLG, .354 OBP
Cristian Guzman (Nationals): .318 AVG, 3 HR, 21 RBI, .429 SLG, .333 OBP
3 comments:
So his swing can be messed up the rest of the year? I believe Josh Hamilton had a drop last year and Ryan did a few years back when he was last in it.
its a no brainer. Ole Pablo beats him in every category. Victorino shouldnt even be on the ballot. Move on
if not Pablo, then it should be Kemp going. He already beat Victor-over-rated-o once in the voting
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